We Are Infinite
by TheDoctor221
Summary: The ancient beings of the universe have conspired to put end to the Infinity War before it has begun. At the center of their scheme? Just a girl who has no idea what she's doing. But what happens when people she's known only as characters suddenly become very real? Will she be able to do what needs to be done? Starts at Captain America: The first Avenger, plans up to Infinity War.
1. Prologue

**Welcome to my first ever fic, lovelies! As it is my first please be kind! I have been an avid fic reader for years and I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while so I finally decided to write it down. Hope you Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own character, Rosalie, obvs.**

PROLOGUE

The end of the universe was nigh, and the Beings of Power did gather in a desperate attempt to stop this catastrophe. Ego sauntered across the wasteland that was once the mighty Titan, kicking various pieces of debri as he went. The meeting place was within view, and he spied his ancient companions already poised and waiting for him. The Ancient One, hovering a few feet above the ground, her legs folded into a lotus position, the monastery cloak of Earth that she favoured rippling around her. A golden chain hung around her neck, the eye pendant glowing a soft green as the Time Stone aided her meditation. Ego knew she was viewing potential outcomes of this meeting of the Ages. A little way in the distance stood Odin, a being of considerable power, but Ego did not consider him to be the god that his nine realms considered him to be. Not compared to himself at least. Odin did, however, look every bit the king that he was, gazing into the distance with his long cape flowing behind him. He turned at Ego's approach with an eyebrow arched over his patched eye.

"Welcome, friend -" Odin didn't get to finish before Ego cut him off.

"I am not your friend, Asgardian. My being here is a matter of self preservation," Ego spat.

"Are we not facing the same threat?" Odin remained unfazed. "Are we not fighting on the same side in the war to come? As Allies?" He came towards Ego as he spoke, spreading his arms in a welcoming gesture. Ego said nothing.

"Then today I call you friend."

"This alliance is wise." The Ancient One spoke softly, her eyes open as if she had been watching the previous exchange. Her feet touched down to the ground as the green light from the Time Stone faded.

"Asgardians and humans," Ego started, his tone still venomous, "do not concern me. I have answered your summons, oh Ancient One, now tell me why I am here, on _Titan_ of all places, before I grow bored."

The Ancient One took a few steps towards him until she was barely a foot in front of him. He was suddenly very aware of the power she possessed.

"This concerns the entire universe, _Ego_ , even you." She matched her tone to his, expressing her distaste for his, well, ego. "In a few Earth years, a great battle is to take place on this very spot. The fate of all living things will hang in the balance. Today we have gathered because I believe I have a way to stop it."

"A girl," Odin continued on from her, "with the foreknowledge to do what is necessary to bring together the warriors that will vanquish this great evil."

"A _girl_?" Ego remained unconvinced.

"Yes." The Ancient One replied simply.

"And what can she do that we cannot with our collective power and the Time Stone?" Ego scoffed.

"She is not of this universe."

Ego started at that. The theory of parallel universes was just that. A theory. But perhaps…

"I assume there will be more than one infinity stone involved if you plan on traversing different universes?" he asked, all animosity forgotten in his curiosity.

"The infinity stones are to be scattered across the stars in order to delay the impending doom," answered Odin. Ego raised his eyebrows at the apparent finality of the statement.

"What the AllFather means," the Ancient One glanced at Odin with mild annoyance as she spoke, "is that the stones must be separated and remain so." Ego huffed out a breath and began to walk away.

" _However_ ," he turned back sharply as the Ancient One spoke again, "With my Time Stone, and the Allfather's access to the Aether and the Tesseract, we believe it may be possible to summon _one_ into this universe. Once she is here, I can continue with just the Time Stone to communicate with her and make sure she is where we need her."

Now that sounded like a more solid plan. Ego grinned at his companions.

"When do we start?"

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	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One here we go! A lot of set up needs to happen but I promise all your faves will appear very soon. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC**

The Tesseract was the strongest power source that Dr. Zola had tested yet. Finding it had been a surprisingly easy feat. Its protectors had kept it well guarded, but the small Hydra faction that retrieved it only counted the miniscule town as collateral. Johann Schmidt himself had headed the operation, his curiosity with the lost relic quickly turning into obsession. For once Dr. Zola felt ahead of the traitor Erskine, who seemed to taunt him from beyond the grave with the success of his super soldier serum. Not that the so-called Captain had appeared in any of the fire fights Hydra had faced against elusive SSR. No, he appeared to be no more than a poster boy.

The factory that the doctor was currently working in was currently revelling in a win. The US army had sent a substantial number of troops to take down the facility, but it was to no avail. Hydra overpowered them with minimal casualties - much to the Dr. Zola's delight. He was keen to continue his good work that had been so rudely interrupted by Erskine's betrayal. His current test subject was out cold as Zola's own formula of the super soldier serum made its way through his system. That, and some mild electroshock treatment to begin his transformation into a Hydra weapon. Zola couldn't have his patient waking up with increased strength and remain a patriot, after all. In the meantime, he continued to test the substantial power of the Tesseract.

The power source was prodded and poked with every manner of scientific instrument Zola possessed. Suddenly, as he skimmed the surface of the cube with a small electrical charge, the Tesseract seemed to wake up. There was simply no other was to describe it. The cube now had a bright blue glow and energy was rolling off of it in waves that Dr. Zola could _feel_. Utterly fascinated, Zola slowly approached it as the Tesseract only glowed brighter and brighter. Without warning, there was a rush of air towards the center of the cube as if it was sucking all of its dispersed energy back into it and with it the near blinding light went out. Dr. Zola adjusted his glasses and stared open-mouthed at the Tesseract only to be blown back against the wall of his laboratory as it released something akin to a sonic boom. Windows and test tubes shattered, papers were scattered into the air, Zola's unconscious test subject merely stirred.

Zola pushed himself upright, his glasses askew and his head bleeding. Glass cracked under his foot as he took a step forward. The paper settled and the Tesseract was bathed in mist, as if it had been rapidly heated and was reacting to the cool room. The blue glow from within pulsed ominously. The thing that caught the doctor's eye, however, was the figure splayed on the floor next to the cube, surrounded by the same misty substance.

The figure was humanoid, its chest rising and falling rapidly as if from great physical exertion. Upon closer inspection, Zola determined that the figure was female from the slight physique. She was facing away from him but turned her head sharply towards him as his foot crushed more broken glass with a loud _crack_. Piercing blue eyes met his own through a short curtain of pale hair. Her eyes were wide, almost fearful, as they regarded him, a hint of recognition in them. While this… thing was definitely female, Zola was unsure if she was even human given that she had apparently come from the Tesseract itself. His mind raced with the different tests he could run on such a creature. He crouched in front of her and reached out a hand to brush some of the tangled strands from in front of her face. She flinched at the contact, her icy glare following his every move. Zola withdrew his hand and grinned at her.

" _Marvellous._ "

* * *

The sky was made of diamonds. They sparkled against the black night, galaxies of them swirling and twinkling endlessly. Rosalie floated among them, reaching out occasionally as if she could catch them in her hand. This was a good dream. She could hardly remember falling asleep, but when could anyone? Besides, she was far too relaxed, the floating sensation very realistic for a dream.

Slowly a robed figure came into view in the distance. Rosalie tried to move towards it, marvelling at the velvety feel of swimming amongst the stars. As she approached she could not help but feel like she was intruding on this ethereal being. But the closer she got, the more she felt like it was simply waiting for her. Rosalie willed herself to stop before the being. It lifted the hood of its robe to reveal a woman with a bald head similar to that of a monk, and a kind face. Rosalie stared in wonder as she spoke.

"Rosalie Hammond." The being looked at her expectantly. Rosalie nodded tentatively.

"Yes?"

"I am the Ancient One. You are here because my universe is in danger, and I believe you can help." Rosalie almost laughed at the serious tone her dream had taken. She decided to humour this 'Ancient One' - she'd seen enough superhero movies recently that a dream like this wasn't all that surprising.

"And what can I," Rosalie gestured to herself dramatically, " _possibly_ do to help, when beings such as yourself exist?" The Ancient One ignored her theatrics.

"My universe is known to yours as fiction, therefore you are aware of the fixed points which even I cannot see. I am entrusting you to ensure these necessary events happen," the Ancient One explained smoothly. By this point, Rosalie was thoroughly impressed with her unconscious imagination. She thought for a moment before answering.

"What the hell, I'm dreaming anyway. Let's go on an adventure!"

"This is not a dream," the Ancient One deadpanned. "This is very real. I can guide you from afar but I cannot interfere-"

"What do you mean 'not a dream'?" Rosalie interrupted, suddenly cautious.

"You are currently in a realm between universes, an empty space. These are not stars surrounding us but a million million parallel universes. I have pulled you from your home universe and will deposit you into my own if you agree to help." Rosalie narrowed her eyes at the Ancient One. This was beginning to sound a little too far fetched, but the dream felt so real.

"You said your universe was known as fiction in mine?" she queried.

"That is correct."

"Which one?"

"I believe your world refers to it as the Marvel Universe." The Ancient One said with mild distaste, as if to say _how dare they reduce the vastness of my universe to a such a simple name?_ Rosalie nearly choked.

" _Marvel?_ Are you kidding me?!" She exclaimed.

"The Infinity War is nearly upon us. You must unite the warriors that will avenge the universe."

"Unite the Avengers? What the actual-!" Rosalie was at a loss for words. On one hand she ached for the adventure, she was a self-proclaimed Marvel fangirl after all. On the other hand, she knew it was a dangerous world and this offer was not to be taken lightly.

"Where would you be dropping me into this universe exactly?" She thought it best to gather as much information as she could before agreeing.

"You will land with the Tesseract - you are familiar with it, I believe - in the time when the Captain is still a new soldier. You must gain his trust so as to have an ally when I then place you in 2012 for the first gathering of our warriors. I will use the Time Stone to manipulate you into these times. I will place certain protective spells around you but what happens is solely up to you. Therefore, try not to be reckless." The Ancient One clearly had a plan mapped out and so far Rosalie was following what she intended to happen. Sort of.

"Right. So…" Rosalie paused, her mind running at hundred miles an hour in excitement, anticipation, and nerves. "When do we start?"

The Ancient One smiled slightly as Rosalie unknowingly echoed her companion's words from earlier.

"Right now." And with that, Rosalie was thrust from the space between worlds, the wind knocked out of her as she fell down to an Earth different from the one she had been pulled from.

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	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two is here! Slowly getting to some more exciting stuff.**

It wasn't exactly a light landing. Rosalie fell heavily onto her back, her lungs working hard to refill with air. She lay there for a moment trying to catch her breath when a loud _crack_ echoed through the cold room. Rolling onto her side, she braced a hand against the floor and peered up at the man slowly approaching her. It suddenly dawned on her what being dropped with the Tesseract in World War Two meant. It was still with Hydra. Shit. Even more to the point, she recognized this man as one of their worst; Dr. Arnim Zola. Rosalie's eyes widened in recognition at the mad scientist, keeping an eagle eye on his every move as he came towards her. She nearly stopped breathing altogether when he crouched down to be level with her. The doctor reached out to her, an expression of pure wonder on his face, and brushed some of Rosalie's hair away from her eyes. She flinched hard at the contact, solidifying to her that _holy shit this was actually happening._ Her heart hammering hard as Zola grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

" _Marvellous._ " The one word from his mouth sent chills down her spine. The blue glow from the Tesseract beside Rosalie was fast fading and she was able to take in more of her surroundings. She was in some kind of makeshift laboratory: various tables were placed haphazardly around the cinder-block walls, strewn with paper and whatever scientific equipment that had survived her arrival. She knew there was more behind her - the doctor's eyes had flicked there momentarily as if expecting something - but she dare not look away, lest he take her by surprise and sedate her or something.

Dr Zola was still gazing at her as one would a rare specimen when an abrupt knock sounded on the door to her left, followed by some frantic German. Zola replied in the harsh tongue, seemingly annoyed though his gaze never wavered. Another few words from outside apparently satisfied the doctor, the sudden tension in his shoulders easing slightly.

"Sprichst du Deutsch?" he asked. Rosalie knew enough basic German to understand.

"No," she replied, her voice sounding small.

"Ah, an English speaker. Lucky for you I know the language. Apparently the… fanfare which accompanied your arrival was heard throughout the factory. I assured our soldiers that it was nothing to worry about - we will not be disturbed again." The man was truly a cat with a caught mouse. If Rosalie wasn't so terrified, she might have found the capacity to be disgusted with him.

"How did you get here, my dear? Through this?" He gestured to the Tesseract, "I admit, I did not expect one who is able to use its power to be so… small."

Rosalie finally broke eye contact with Dr Zola to look at the encased Space Stone. Funny, it looked so ordinary in real life, nowhere near the cosmic power that it truly was. Rosalie muttered something under her breath,

"I'm sorry," Dr Zola leaned in closer, "I did not quite catch that?"

"I said," Rosalie started, finally climbing to her feet, "None ya business, you fucking _Nazi_." The last word spat out with as much animosity as she could muster, so much so that the doctor was actually speechless. He blinked at her for a moment before heading towards the door.

"

I will return shortly," was all he said before slipping out and locking the door behind him with a resounding _click_.

"Where is that accent from?" A voice asked from behind Rosalie. She whirled around and nearly fainted at the scene that was the rest of the lab. A man was lying flat on a stretcher, his wrists and ankles restrained. An odd helmet-like contraption hanging just above his head caught Rosalie's eye before she focused on his face. A small gasp escaped her lips. No! It couldn't be! Of all the places throughout the war the Ancient One could have dropped her, of course it was while the 107th Infantry was captured… in the same room as _Bucky freaking Barnes_.

Rosalie shakily approached the stretcher and came to stand by his head to give him a clear view of her. Her eyes swept over his body, landing on his face. He had a lazy smile which didn't quite meet his eyes and bruises down the left side of his face, no doubt from the helmet-like device. She also couldn't quite get over how exactly like Sebastian Stan he looked, especially in the first Captain America movie.

"Hello? That was you giving the good doctor a verbal butt-kicking before? I'm not hallucinating and you can actually speak?" Bucky asked her. He was so sincere it hurt, especially when Rosalie knew what was in store for him over the next 75 or so years. Her face reddened slightly when she realised she still hadn't answered him and was essentially ogling him.

"Hi," she managed to squeak out. Despite his current situation, Bucky smiled at her.

"Well hi there, sweetheart. How'd a nice girl like you wind up in a dump like this?" Ever the charmer - even if he was just flirting to make her answer him properly.

"You're Sergeant Barnes." she said lamely.

"And you're not German." He shot back.

"Um, no… Um…" Rosalie struggled for something to say to the man she had been a rather avid fan of in her own universe.

"So…" he prompted, "where are you from then?"

"New Zealand." Rosalie figured she could be honest about something, she most certainly wasn't telling him about being from another universe.

"Huh,' Bucky thought for a moment, "I think I met a couple 'o guys from there once. Nice people. It's, what, part of Australia?" It was downright endearing how genuinely curious he was. Rosalie almost had to roll her eyes though, why did Americans never seem to know anything about the small country?

"Um, no, it's its own country. Actually a bit of a healthy rivalry with Australia. With like, sports and stuff." She inwardly cringed, hoping the questions about her home would stop, she didn't really want to get homesick this early in the game.

"Huh." Was Bucky's simple reply again.

He opened his mouth to speak again but was cut off by the door of the lab swinging open. Two masked Hydra agents entered and grabbed Rosalie roughly, forcing her to kneel.

"Hey! Let her go!" Bucky shouted from the stretcher, pulling against his restraints. Dr Zola hurried into the lab followed by none other Johann Schmidt.

The head of Hydra was a tall, mean looking man. The resemblance to Hugo Weaving was certainly there, however Rosalie could hardly imagine this man in drag, a la Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Schmidt sauntered into the room and came to a stop in front of her. He glanced back at Zola and the Tesseract before speaking.

"The power of the Tesseract is beyond that of any man. We can barely hope to understand it, let alone wield it -"

"I am no man." Rosalie just couldn't help herself but interrupt, the line was too perfect. Schmidt glared at her.

"Indeed," he continued his monologuing, "you are not. Dr Zola tells me you appeared as if from the Tesseract itself. So tell me," Schmidt got so close that Rosalie could feel his breath on her face, " _what are you_?"

Rosalie was scared now. More than scared, she was petrified. She simply stared at the most dangerous man she had ever encountered, an answer failing to form in her brain. Schmidt merely sighed at her lack of response. He turned away, absently waving a hand at the two restraining her and they sprung into action. Rosalie's hands were tied to one of the legs of the stretcher with coarse rope, forcing her to sit on the floor beside Bucky.

"You will tell me," Schmidt called back to her as he began to exit the room. "And until then, a simple blood test will determine if you are as human as you look." With that he exited the room with his Hydra agents.

Once the door was shut again, Dr Zola looked over his two captives. He moved to turn on the machine by Bucky's head.

"What have you got for me this time, Doc?" Bucky asked cockily. The doctor ignored him. Rosalie stared wide-eyed, realising what she was about to witness.

"I'll deal with you later." Dr Zola told her as he caught her staring.

Zola flicked a switch and the helmet-like part of the contraption lowered towards Bucky's head, the small electrical pulses visible.

"It will be easier if you relax, Sergeant." the doctor remarked casually, as if he was about to give a massage, not fry someone's brain.

Bucky glanced at him sidelong before staring straight at the ceiling, gritting his teeth against the coming pain. Rosalie was shaking on the floor next to him, horror flooding through her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" She begged Dr Zola to stop, her voice rising with each syllable.

As the helmet and the electrical pulses finally came into contact with Bucky's head, her own screams were only drowned out by his.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter four! Things are starting to get more exciting!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OC**

Rosalie was shaking, slouched uncomfortably against the leg of the stretcher. Fatigue, hunger, and the stress of the last few hours were catching up with her. Dr Zola had spent a good hour torturing Bucky, who was still out cold next to her, before taking the proposed blood sample from her. He had left her in the lab with Bucky, taking her blood somewhere else in the factory to examine it. With nothing to do but be alone with her thoughts, Rosalie's mind wandered through her knowledge of this universe. Her encounter with the Ancient One that had brought her here felt more and more like a distant dream. Rosalie was beginning to regret her nonchalance at coming to this universe. So far it had turned out to be more of a waking nightmare. Sure, she was a fan of Marvel - more than a fan; She religiously watched every movie as soon as it was out and knew far more about the characters than someone who simply enjoyed them. Hell, she even had a Pinterest board practically dedicated to the fandom! But nothing, _nothing_ , could have prepared her for suddenly finding herself in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

World War Two was obviously something Rosalie knew about, history class at home in NZ had been annoyingly biased to covering the parts that only NZ was involved in - she could tell you about the ANZACs until the cows came home (and that wasn't even WWII!) Her knowledge about the US involvement in the war was sketchy at best, and all she knew about Captain America came from the movie. The Captain was surely her only way out of this factory, but she could not for the life of her recall exactly how long the 107th had been POW. Was it a week? A month? How long had they been held captive already? How the hell was she expected to survive a _war_ and make it to the 21st century? Rosalie was not necessarily helpless - she was quite the gym bunny, even investing in one on one boxing training. It made her feel badass, but that didn't mean she had any confidence whatsoever in a real fight.

Panic began to set in, Rosalie's heart thundering in her chest and a weight dropping to the pit of her stomach. _Oh god,_ she thought, _I'm going to die here_. Moisture pricked the corners of her eyes as she struggled to get her breathing under control. Panic attacks were very rare for Rosalie, but unfortunately not unheard of, and she was fighting to keep this one at bay. If Bucky were to wake up while she was hyperventilating… Well, that's not exactly the kind of impression she was going for. Granted, he could probably get her to breathe normally, having been used to helping the tiny Steve Rogers with his asthma. And that's only if what Tumblr says is true. _Oh great, now I gotta separate canon from fan theory_.

Rosalie needed to calm down, and quickly. Her thoughts were too jumbled and racing through her mind too quickly, she needed something to focus on. So she did the only thing she could think of; she sang softly to herself.

"Hey now, hey now, don't dream it's over…" The lyrics to the Crowded House classic were slightly comforting, as was being able to remember things from her own world. Music was always a comfort to her - she took great joy in finding the perfect song for every situation, especially when it came to anything emotional. Typical fangirl.

She stopped her singing when Bucky abruptly woke up with a gasp. He tried to sit up but the new restraint across his chest did not allow it. Rosalie barely breathed, not wanting to startle him with her presence when she had no idea what state his mind was in. After a few minutes he stopped struggling, resting his head back against the stretcher in resignation. He furrowed his brow slightly as if concentrating on something before his eyes widened slightly. He whipped his head to the side and looked directly at Rosalie, his expression softening when he saw her still on the floor next to him. Her eyes met his, a tight lipped smile on her face as a hello.

"Thought you were a dream," Bucky stated dryly.

Rosalie opened her mouth to speak but no words formed on her lips, her gaze dropping to her lap. Concern flashed in Bucky's eyes as he took in her exhausted features.

"What'd they do to you?" he questioned. Rosalie refused to meet his eyes.

"They took some blood," Rosalie's voice wavered as she answered him, still calming down from her panic attack, "and once they realise I'm just a regular old human, they'll probably kill me."

"You say that as if you could be anything other than human." Bucky was confused: what else was there that she could be?

"Oh, Sergeant, the world is so much stranger than you know." Rosalie's cryptic answer did nothing to alleviate his confusion.

"Who are you?"

"Well," She thought for a moment, "given I got here via that -" she nodded towards the Tesseract and Bucky craned his neck to see it, "- would you believe me if I said I'm from the future?" Technically she wasn't lying, but she thought trying to explain a multiverse was a bit of a stretch for the moment. Bucky was silent while he thought about her answer.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart," he said finally. He had an odd look on his face, like he didn't quite believe her, but somehow _did_.

"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes, but you prefer Bucky. Your best friend is Steven Grant Rogers, who tried like five times to get into the army but got rejected 'cause his health is terrible. And I only know about Steve because he signed up for an experiment for the army to make a super soldier and he's kinda gonna become a war hero. So are you." Rosalie rattled off the information hoping it might convince Bucky that she was being honest.

"How do you know all that?" He asked, suddenly very serious.

"I told you -"

"You're from the future, I got that." He cut her off. Rosalie was taken aback at the sudden icy tone Bucky had taken with her. Of all the people to alienate with her future knowledge she had hoped to avoid that with him.

"I'm just trying to show you it's true," she explained softly, not wanting to give the sergeant any more reason to distrust her.

The silence that followed was deafening as Bucky mulled it over in his head, hopefully coming to the conclusion that Rosalie wasn't crazy or malicious. Rosalie began to get stuck inside her head again, worrying that she had just lost one of the people she needed on her side.

"You know," Bucky's voice shook her out of her thoughts, "you could at least tell me your name." Rosalie blinked at him, realising that indeed, she hadn't.

"Rose." she told him flatly.

"Rose…?" he prompted her. "C'mon, you know _so_ much about me from the history books, you can at least tell me as much about you." She rolled her eyes at him. _Of course being told he's going to be war hero would go straight to his head._

"Rosalie Hammond, but only my parents use my full name, and only when I'm in trouble, so Rose, please. Um, I'm twenty-two years old, born in '96, I'm a Scorpio… God this feels like the introductions you have to do at the start of a new class," Rose groaned.

"Well nice to meet you, I guess. You already know who I am - which is still weird by the way," Bucky replied, going back to his relaxed demeanor. "How'd you end up here anyway? Where were you before the cube over there picked you up?" he asked.

Rose thought hard, the memories of what she had been doing slowly coming into focus.

"I was just… Walking along… I had been to the gym and I was on my way home…" she recounted as the hazy memories floated across her mind. "Then… I don't know, suddenly it was like I was in a dream… And then next thing I knew I was landing here." She chose to omit the conversation with the Ancient One, again not wanting to confuse him with the whole cross-dimensional thing.

"Girls go to the gym in the future?" Bucky inquired. Rose laughed at the question.

" _That's_ your take away from that? And yeah, we do." She shook her head at him. If he still had doubts about where she was from, there was no way she'd act like a 40s girl. _That should keep things interesting, at least._

Roses' eyes began to wander around the small lab as the conversation came to a stand still. Just behind a desk on the wall was a large map, with various locations marked out. She vaguely recalled the same map being on the wall when the Captain would come to rescue his friend. _That's gonna be important later_.

"Wait a second," Bucky started, "Did you say Steve _volunteered for an experiment?_ "

* * *

"... And then he jumped on the dummy grenade, because dude has no sense of self-preservation, I swear." Rose finished recounting the story of tiny Steve Rogers in training camp. It was one of her favourite scenes in the movie, and she decided it was such an iconic Steve moment that it would have made history books, hence she had no worries about telling Bucky. She couldn't quite tell if the sergeant found it amusing or exasperating - probably both.

"That little punk, I swear I'm gonna smack some sense into him when I get out of here." He paused before looking at Rose, studying her intently. "Part of me still doesn't quite believe you're from the future, but you talk so.. so…" he grasped for the right word, "colloquial."

"Wow," she smirked teasingly at him, "big word, that."

"Oh, shut up."

They lapsed into an amicable silence. Rose opened her mouth to say something else when the lock of the door clicked open and Dr Zola came into the lab. Bucky stared expressionless at the doctor, trying not to give anything away. Rosalie knew enough about what Zola had inflicted upon him to know that Bucky was _terrified_ of the the man. She fixed him with her best death glare.

Dr Zola simply smiled at them before setting his small briefcase on the desk opposite the door.

"It is truly remarkable," he began, opening his case, "that one who has come to us under such extraordinary circumstances is simply _human_." The doctor turned towards the trapped pair, a sadistic glint in his eyes. "Or course, there must be something more to you," he continued. "Every one of our men who has come into direct contact with the Tesseract has been vaporized. But not you. No, you are not as ordinary as your blood sample would have me believe."

"I'm from the future." Rose stated matter-of-factly. Zola and Bucky both just looked at her; Bucky in shock that she would give herself away so easily, Zola calculating the probability of her statement, given her origin.

"And one thing I know, is that you're going to die," she said darkly, hoping the implication was enough to intimidate the doctor. Zola just laughed at her.

"You think you can scare me? The world is at war, and you tell me that I will die. While unsurprising, I can only hope to finish my good work before that happens."

"There is nothing _good_ about your work," Bucky spat at him.

"That is only one opinion, Sergeant Barnes. Perhaps you would like to trade places with our guest? See how well she can resist my machine?" Zola gestured to the brainwashing torture machine at Bucky's head.

"No!" he cried.

"Then you will remain silent." That effectively shut him up. "As for you my dear, I am curious…" Zola trailed off as he untied Rose's hands from the stretcher. "Now, do not try anything, there are guards posted outside." He led her over to the Tesseract, which glowed ominously as she approached. "I am curious." Zola repeated.

He took her wrist and guided her hand towards the glowing cube. The Tesseract glowed brighter and let off small sparks of energy as Rose grew closer. She closed her eyes and tried to turn away, as if the Tesseract might explode in her face. She caught sight of Bucky struggling to sit up enough to see what was happening, worry plain on his face. Her fingers brushed the cold surface of the Tesseract and Zola used his free hand to press her palm flat against it. He let go of Rose and stepped back.

Slowly, Rose lifted her head towards the cube, eyes wide as she realised it wasn't hurting her. She pressed her hand against it more confidently. It was still shooting off little sparks but it almost seemed like it was… _excited_. Rose let out a bewildered laugh.

"Remarkable," Dr Zola commented, a bewildered look on his own face. Rose wondered if the Tesseract could tell who she was, and if the fan theory that each Infinity Stone had a sliver of sentience was true. Then Zola pulled her hand away and led her back to her ropes, with Rose too entranced to bother fighting back as she was tied up again.

"I must speak with my master," Zola mumbled more to himself than anyone else, and all but ran from the room in his excitement about this latest development.

"What happened?" Bucky asked Rose, snapping her out of her trance-like state. She was still staring at the Tesseract.

"I think it likes me," she replied after a while, her voice filled with wonder.

Suddenly alarms were blaring throughout the factory.

"Is that…?" Rose wondered out loud, her wonderment fading, hoping against hope that it was exactly what she thought it was. The door to the lab swung open and Zola was back, flying around the lab, collecting papers and finally the Tesseract with a pair of metal tongs, into a larger briefcase than the one he had placed on the desk earlier. He picked up a discarded hat and coat from the back of a chair and paused in the doorway, turning back to the two prisoners.

"I do hope we will meet again if you survive this." With that said he hurried from the lab.

"Survive what?" Bucky called after him, he turned his head to look at Rose, who was grinning. "Rose, survive what?"

"Bucky?!" A desperate voice called from the hallway. Bucky's eyes widened in recognition and looked away from Rose to the now open door.

"Steve?!"

Rose only smiled wilder. Captain America had arrived.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter five! Say Hi to Stevie :D**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OC**

Standing in the doorway was the man himself, brown leather jacket, bright red boots, and a prop shield and helmet to boot.

"Bucky!" Steve exclaimed in relief as he took in the sight of his best friend bruised and bleeding, but very much alive. He hesitated halfway to Bucky, catching sight of Rosalie on the floor next to him. Bucky followed his gaze before turning to reassure his friend.

"It's ok, she's just as much a prisoner as me." he explained. Rose gazed wide eyed up at Steve Rogers; he looked more or less how she had expected him to, she just hadn't expected him to look so _young_.

Steve cautiously made his way towards the prisoners, accepting Bucky's reassurance. He moved quicker as he approached the side of the stretcher opposite Rose, confidently ripping away Bucky's restraints.

"I thought you were dead." Steve told his friend gravely. Bucky sat up with a sigh of relief, rubbing his wrists where they had been bound. He looked up at Steve, suddenly registering the height difference from the last time they had seen each other.

"I thought you were smaller." Bucky replied breathlessly.

"If you two are finished with the lover's reunion, I'd really appreciate it if you could untie me." Rose called, getting the attention of the two men.

"Sorry…" Bucky mumbled, swinging his legs over the side of the stretcher next to Rose. He crouched on the floor next to her and quickly untied her.

"C'mon," Steve waved them to the door and out into the hallway. He ran ahead a little ways, checking it was clear of Hydra agents, Bucky and Rose stumbling after him.

"What happened to you?" Bucky asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"He joined the army, obviously," Rose quipped from behind him. Bucky shot her a look, choosing to ignore her comment before continuing to question Steve.

"Did it hurt?"

"A little," Steve answered distractedly.

"Is it permanent?"

"So far!"

They continued down the corridor, the sounds of distant explosions reaching their ears. Rose knew that outside, Hydra was losing this fight. She was struggling to keep up with the two men in front of her, fatigue was making her lightheaded and more than a little nauseous. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, squeezing her eyes shut against the feeling of faintness. When she opened her eyes again, Bucky and Steve were no longer in sight.

"Oh, shit," she swore to herself. She was about to start jogging to catch up and find them, when footsteps behind her made her turn around. A lone Hydra agent was approaching, reaching for their gun as they neared Rose.

Rose didn't even think, adrenaline taking over. The Hydra agent never got as far as firing their gun - as soon as they were within reach, Rose punched them as hard as she could, sending them sprawling and the gun clattering to the ground. Geez, had the Ancient One increases her strength or something? There was no way she thought she would be able to get the agent on the ground.

"Rose!" Bucky's voice shouted from over her shoulder. Him and Steve were at the end of the hallway, obviously having turned back when they realised Rose was no longer following them. Rose bent to pick up the dropped Hydra weapon, using it to backhand the agent rising from the ground and effectively knocking them out.

"Nice right hook, doll, but we gotta go!" Bucky called urgently. He ran up to her and began tugging on her arm. Rose let him drag her a little way, her eyes locked on the unconscious Hydra agent. Finally she turned to Bucky, suddenly scared of her own strength as she desperately shoved the weapon into his hands.

"You're probably a better shot than me," she stated in response his questioning gaze. He took the weapon and held it with ease, having had training to handle such large firearms. With a short nod to Rose, they both took off again after Steve.

Steve led the trio through a door after the maze of hallways that brought them onto a metal walkway high above the main factory floor. Realizing the height they were at, Rose swallowed back her fear of heights and followed the two soldiers as they searched for a way across. Far below, flames engulfed the factory as it slowly self-destructed. A fall from the walkway would certainly mean the end of the line.

"Captain America!" A voice called across the chasm. Johann Schmidt and Dr Zola were on the far side, a narrow bridge stretched across connecting the two walkways.

"How exciting!" Schmidt exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "I am a great fan of your films!" He narrowed his eyes to regard Steve. "So, Dr Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement but still impressive."

Steve and Schmidt had walked towards each other across the bridge during Schmidt's little speech. He finished as they met in the middle, at which point Steve punched him in the face.

"You have no idea." Steve told him, the threat heavy in his voice.

"Haven't I?" Schmidt taunted, punching back at Steve, who raised his prop metal shield to defend himself. A sharp _clang_ rang out, shock at the fist-shaped dent in the shield making Steve pause momentarily. A struggle ensued, both men equally matched in strength and speed. Rose gripped the railing while Bucky gripped the gun in his hands. He could have easily used it to take out Schmidt or Zola from this distance, but he seemed to be frozen staring at the man who had tortured him. Just as Steve landed a hit on Schmidt that sent him crashing to the ground, Zola pulled a lever that caused the bridge to retract from the center and separate the opposing parties.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!" Schmidt boasted, a maniacal glint in his eye as he reached to his neck. Rose remembered this part in the movie, therefore wasn't quite as surprised as her companions when Schmidt peeled off the facial prosthetic to reveal the Red Skull underneath. The red skin underneath was vastly more gruesome in the flesh than the film would have her believe. Instead of smooth crimson, it looked raw and blistered, clearly deformed where the first attempt at the serum had burned away the top layers of skin.

"You don't have one of those, do you?" Bucky asked Steve shakily, paling at the possibility.

"Nah, he's still stuck with that face," Rose attempted to distract him, "Unlike the Voldemort-Elrond hybrid over there." She called the last part so that Schmidt would hear the insult in her tone, even if no one else understood the reference.

"You are deluded, Captain! You pretend to be a simple soldier but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind!" Schmidt continued to try baiting Steve, the gestured to Rose. "You do not even understand what this girl is, where she came from! She came to us from raw power itself, you cannot hope to understand the future we are heading towards. We are the beginning of a new master race and, unlike you, I embrace it proudly - without fear!"

"Then why are you running?" Steve shouted as Schmidt and Zola continued along their walkway to an elevator and disappeared into it. For a moment, Steve looked as if he wanted to try and follow them before remembering his companions.

"Come on," he said through gritted teeth, his frustration at losing Schmidt obvious, "let's go, up."

Rose groaned internally at the notion of climbing higher. However, she wasn't about to let either Steve or Bucky know about her fear. She followed them up the walkways and stairs that became increasingly like scaffolding, trying to ignore the jelly feeling in her legs. When it was obvious that there was no escaping from this side of the building, they began to search for a way across to the other side. A thin beam had fallen across the gap, creating a gangplank that they could attempt to cross. Roses' heart sank as she realised this was their only option. Bucky was the only one to make it across in the movie, with Steve having to jump the distance. Rose prayed the beam would hold her weight as well, before collapsing.

"Let's go, one at a time." Steve said, ushering his companions ahead of him. Bucky went first, testing his weight on the beam. Rose let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding when he made it to the other side with the beam still intact. She climbed over the railing with sweaty hands and looked across at Bucky who reached a hand out to her, encouraging her to continue forward. Slowly, she inched her way along the beam, and was almost past halfway when a large explosion shook the factory. Rose fell to her knees, gripping the beam beneath her with white knuckles. She made the mistake of looking down, momentarily mesmerized by the swirling flames below her - until she noticed the flames climbing.

"Rose!" Bucky shouted, "You alright?"

"I'm fine," she called back, "is it too late to mention that I don't do so well with heights?"

"You can make it." Bucky reached out to her again. She shakily got to her feet, feeling the beam shift beneath her.

"Fuck!" she screamed, leaping the last few steps to the other side. Bucky grabbed her arms as she grabbed the railing, the beam falling away into the inferno below. Once she was safely on the walkway, Bucky turned his attention back to Steve, both looking for a way for him to get across now that their gangplank was gone.

"There's gotta be a rope or something!" Bucky called to him. Steve looked from him to the rising flames.

"Just go!" Steve cried desperately. "Get out of here!"

Bucky didn't even hesitate before he yelled back.

"No! Not without you!"

Rose's heart could have shattered at the words. There were four specific lines of Bucky's that utterly ruined her over the course of the Marvel movies - and he had just said the first one. She felt that it summed up the two men's friendship, their brotherhood, pretty accurately. _I'm with you until the end of the line._ Oh, how heartachingly true that was. Tears pricked her eyes from both smoke and the scene before her; Steve weighing his options and figuring out the likelihood that he could make the jump, Bucky clutching the railing and leaning out as if he could reach Steve to help him across. Steve backed up as much as he could, making a face as if to say _ah, shit_. Then he ran and leapt.

In the back of her mind, Rose knew he'd make it. But that didn't stop her from watching him make the jump with bated breath. Seeing it in person was a whole other thing to seeing it on screen. Steve just made it, grabbing the railing and hauling himself over. The other side was no longer visible through the flames. Bucky clapped him on the shoulder, shaking his head with amused disbelief on his face.

"Captain America, huh?" he chuckled.

"Shut up."

"Punk."

"Jerk."

"Um, guys?" Rose interrupted their banter. "Should we, like, go?" Another explosion rocked the factory as if to prove her point. Steve took the lead again, taking them to a door that came out onto a small fire escape on the outside of the factory. From there they descended the stairs with little difficulty, the raging fire inside the factory still contained by the cinder block exterior. The sky was just beginning to lighten over the forest outside of the factory's boundaries, revealing the remains of the battle that had raged outside when the rest of the war prisoners had escaped. Bucky let out a low whistle at the damage.

"Everyone should be waiting for us at a clearing about 80 yards past the gate." Steve informed them. "So," he began, turning to Rose as they started walking, "Where did Hydra pick you up?"

"I, uh.." she trailed off, not entirely sure how to answer.

"She's a little difficult to explain, Steve." Bucky cut in.

"How so?"

"Well, you see…" Rose took a deep breath, "Hydra has this weapon, this power source. It's called the Tesseract, but it's not from Earth. It's one of six infinity stones that can bend time and space around them. I'm… not sure how it picked me up but I was suddenly in that lab with Dr Zola staring at me like some kind of anomaly. Which I guess I am 'cause technically I'm from the future." She kept her eyes on the ground as she explained, worried about the Captain's reaction to the truth. She wasn't sure he would be quite so open minded as he will be in 2012 when the Chitauri attack.

"The future?" he asked incredulously.

"I didn't believe her at first either, pal, but she knows more about us than any regular person should." Bucky responded, "apparently we're in the history books." Steve stayed silent.

"I was born in 1996, the year when I left was 2018." Rose supplied.

"If that is true, then Colonel Phillips will wanna talk to you." Steve said after a long pause. The rest of the escapees were coming into view in the clearing - a few hundred men plus whatever vehicles they had managed to commandeer. Though Rose couldn't quite remember all their names, she could easily pick out the future Howling Commandos in the forefront.

"Hey Cap!" The one with the bowler hat and moustache called - Dugan? - as the trio approached. Steve and Bucky smiled easily at their army companions, shaking hands and congratulating each other on a success escape.

"Who's the girl?" one asked, nodding in Rose's directions. She had chosen to hang back a little bit, not overly comfortable in the large crowd of people.

"And what's she _wearing?_ " Another called.

"More like not wearing!" Someone yelled, causing a ripple of laughter through the crowd. Rose was feeling very self conscious in the clothes she was usually at ease in. She was still wearing what she has been when the Ancient One plucked her from her universe; gym leggings and a hoodie didn't seem too drastic in her mind but she supposed men in this day and age were not used to seeing a woman in such tight pants.

"Hey!" Bucky shouted over the men, "show a little respect to the lady! She's been through an ordeal just the same as us." A few mumbled 'sorry, Sarge', before Bucky turned his attention back to Steve. "What do we do now?"

"Now," Steve said, "we go home."

 _If only_ , thought Rose.

 **Review, follow, favourite!**


	6. Chapter 5

**What's this? Another chapter withing the week? Y'all are lucky I'm so excited writing this! Just so ya know, Rose is basically me, so I write her dialogue how I speak. Including the swears lmao. Now without further ado, chapter five!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC**

The walk back to base was nothing if not long. Rose's feet ached, converse were not made for a 30 mile walk but she refused to sit back on one of the tanks or jeeps with the wounded. Instead she kept a few paces behind Bucky and Steve who periodically threw glances over their shoulders at her - no doubt talking about her. Part of her wanted to join in on their conversation but decided to let the two best friends catch up with each other, retreating into her own mind as she walked. Rose was soon going to be faced with Colonel Phillips and Peggy Carter, and she was going to have to convince them to let her stay in close proximity to the SSR. She knew she would most likely have Bucky on her side, him knowing her origins, and she knew Steve believed Bucky about her. She would have to hope that the backing of those two would help her case. She was also preparing a speech about messing with time, as the Colonel would no doubt want to know what history said about how they win the war. Years of watching _Doctor Who_ had definitely prepared her for this, although she knew she should probably avoid the phrase 'wibbly wobbly timey wimey'.

After a while, not having a phone and earbuds was proving near torture for the almost seven hour walk, so Rose ended up mumbling lyrics that she could remember to entertain herself. Ahead of her, Bucky and Steve had lapsed into silence, the latter still confidently leading while Bucky fell in step beside her.

"Whatcha singing?" he asked. She stopped halfway through Bohemian Rhapsody and looked at him.

"Future song, it won't be made for… another thirty years? I think? Some time in the Seventies." Rose decided that there were some things she could tell him that wouldn't make a difference, music was one of them.  
"Well I look forward to it," he said. She smiled sadly at him, knowing he would be a mindless weapon by that point.

"Yeah," she replied, trying to stop her sad thoughts from tarnishing the image of this carefree Bucky Barnes. War was hard on everyone, but it had yet to break the young Sergeant..

"What's the future like?" Bucky asked suddenly, staring at her with childlike curiosity.

"I can't tell you anything specific, you know. I don't know how much of a butterfly effect me just being here is gonna have." Rose attempted to deflect his question which only deepened his intrigue.

"What's a butterfly effect?"

"Oh, um…" she thought about how best to explain. "It's the idea that something small can have a ripple effect to make something huge. Like a butterfly flapping its wings helps to create a hurricane a thousand miles away. In terms on me coming back in time… I could say the wrong thing to the wrong person and it could change the whole future. Not that I think I'm that important, obviously. There's also the theory that there are certain fixed points that can't be changed because in every timeline they have to happen. It's really complicated and there isn't nearly enough sci-fi shit in the forties to help me with this." she sighed.

"Is it more common for people to swear in the future?"

"Honey, chivalry and general politeness are long dead by my time." Rose tried to cover her laughter at how seriously Bucky asked the question. _My language would probably make a sailor blush in this decade._

"What makes you think you're not important?" This next question surprised her.

"Because I'm just… Me. I'm not special, I've never done anything out of the ordinary. Quite frankly I'm still waiting to wake up and this all be a dream." She answered honestly.

"But if that Tesseract thing chose you," Bucky began to theorise, "then there's gotta be somethin'. I mean, there has to be a reason for it to be you and not anybody else, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Rose frowned. She had never really been good at thinking much of herself - an unfortunate trait in her generation - but Bucky had a point.

"So, what can you tell me about the future?" he pressed again.

"It's… bright. There are still wars but this is the last big one, the last one referred to as a World War. Food is better, technology advances, the film industry booms and damn, do they make some good stuff. Overall the world is a more accepting place. And the up and coming generations are working hard to make it even better. University isn't just for rich people, in fact my brother is studying -" she stopped abruptly. Her brother. She hadn't allowed herself to think about the world she had left behind. And now it hit her. She hadn't just time travelled, she had jumped _universes_. Now she wondered if in the future there was a version of herself in this universe, a version of her family, versions of all her friends. The gravity of what she had been sent here to do suddenly fell heavily on her shoulders. She had to stop the Infinity War, she had to stop Thanos - not just to save the lives of the people she had previously known only as characters but to save the lives of the innocent people who had no hand in the war and would pay the price anyway. _If I fail, will my friends and family on this Earth survive The Snap?_

Bucky didn't notice as Rose squared her shoulders, determination flashing across her face. The Ancient One had chosen her to help save the universe, and she'd be damned if she didn't rise to the challenge.

"... Sounds nice to be able to do that." Bucky was saying next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry?"

"I was saying it sounds nice to be able to go get an education no matter how much money you have."

"Yeah, I mean, it's hard work, but it is pretty good."

The pair were silent again, both lost in their thoughts. On the horizon, the line of trees broke, revealing what Rose could only assume was the army camp. Bucky went back up next to Steve as they approached. They strode into the camp with the convoy behind them, drawing a crowd of soldiers who clapped and whooped at the the return of their comrades. A little ways into the camp they were met by Colonel Phillips and Peggy Carter, both with unreadable poker faces. Rose was utterly awestruck. Steve stopped in front of the Colonel and saluted.

"Some of these men need medical attention," he informed him, army medics rushing to the vehicles that carried the wounded as soon as the words had left his mouth. "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action." The corner of Colonel Phillips' mouth twitched ever so slightly, Peggy seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief.

"That won't be necessary," Phillips declared.

"Yes, sir," Steve replied as Phillips began walking away.

"Faith, huh?" Rose heard him say to Peggy as he passed her. A satisfied smile passed over Peggy's face before she walked up to Steve, hands on her hips.

"You're late."

Steve fished around in the pocket of his jacket for a moment before pulling out a small device that quite clearly had a bullet hole through it.

"Couldn't call my ride," he replied flirtily. _Now kiss_ , thought Rose, smirking at their interaction.

"Hey!" Bucky yelled as Steve and Peggy just stared at each other. "Let's hear it for Captain America!" Pride was written all over Bucky's face, tinged with sadness and something Rose couldn't quite place. The bright smile returned to his face the second he noticed her looking at him. _Something's wrong._

Rose clapped hard with the rest of the soldiers regardless, Steve becoming bashful at all the attention. She kept looking back towards Bucky, resolving to try talking to him later, away from the crowd. She glanced away again, accidentally meeting eyes with Peggy - who was already staring at her. Rose had always liked Peggy Carter, looking up to her as an example to follow as far as badass women went. Now she was faced with Peggy, though, she didn't really know how to react. Peggy, on the other hand, regarded Rose carefully, looking her up and down, and automatically assessing whether or not she was a threat.

"And who is this, Captain Rogers?" she asked Steve, suddenly all business.

"This is Rose, she was being held captive with Bu- Sergeant Barnes." he explained.

"Do you speak English?" She questioned Rose directly.

"Yes." Rose responded, feeling very intimidated.

"How did you end up captured by Hydra? You don't look like a soldier." Rose was taken aback at Peggy's bluntness.

"I, uh…" _Come on Rose_ , she thought, _you've gone over this and you know what to say._ "You know of the power source Hydra possesses, yes?"

"We do…" Peggy said slowly.

"It's not terrestrial. It's more than power, it bends space around it. It, um… It pulled me there, out of my world." Rose took a deep breath. "I think it might be best if this was discussed in private. With the Colonel." she insisted.

"Yes, I think that might be best," Peggy agreed warily. "Follow me. Captain, Sergeant, you best come as well." They all followed Peggy to a large tent where they found the Colonel dictating a letter regarding Steve's rescue of the Hydra prisoners. Phillips looked from Peggy to Steve and Bucky, his eyes finally landing on Rose.

"What, are we picking up strays now?"

"Sir, this girl - Rose - is an unknown-" Peggy began.

"I can explain myself, thanks," Rose interrupted while Peggy shot daggers at her. Colonel Phillips gestured for her to go ahead. So she did. Rose explained how she had been just minding her own business and then in a flash of light had suddenly found herself in Dr Zola's lab with Bucky. She told them about the Tesseract and how Hydra planned to use it to make weapons, about how the Tesseract was not something to be meddled with and the true power it possessed. She then explained how this meant she was from the future, and no, she wasn't kidding.

"... so, yeah. I'd appreciate it if you could keep me around, 'cause no telling what Hydra would do if they got their hands on me again." She finished, clasping her hands together nervously.

"The future?" Colonel Phillips raised an eyebrow at her incredulously.

"With all due respect, sir," Bucky cut in, "I've spoken with Miss Rose since she arrived at the factory. She knows things about all of us that are either not common knowledge or, in Steve's case, classified."

"I'm trying to wrap my head around the concept of time travel. You know what's going to happen? How we win this war?" Phillips demanded.

"I know what's in the history books, sir," Rose replied. "I don't know what my being here might change, though."

"But surely if by your time you've been here already…" Steve began to speculate.

"Time travel theory is tricky, ok?" Rose was beginning to get frustrated with the 1940s way of thinking. "Geez, there's so much science fiction in the future that literally covers every possible theory of how it might work. As far as I can tell this is the best explanation: People assume that time is strict progression from cause to effect but actually from a non-linear non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of… wibbly wobbly… timey wimey… stuff." Rose knew being a _Doctor Who_ fan as well as Marvel would come in handy as she recited the line as well as she could remember.

"That sentence started good," Bucky smirked at her. Rose stared at him for moment, _holy shit I get to say the whole line!_

"It got away from me, yeah…" she said as offhandedly as she could, despite her fangirl side internally screaming. Colonel Phillips sat down at the desk in the tent, rubbing his temples.

"This is all a bit far fetched, but I've learnt to expect the unexpected from Hydra. Where's Stark?" He directed the question at Peggy, who had stayed silent throughout Rose speaking, chewing on her bottom lip as she considered what the strange girl was saying.

"Already left for London, sir."

"Well then, pack your bags Captain, Sergeant, we leave tomorrow."

"What about me, sir?" Rose asked carefully.

"Well we don't want Hydra getting their hands on you, do we? Agent Carter, find our guest some clothes and somewhere to sleep." Phillips dismissed them.

* * *

Despite Peggy's brusque attitude towards Rose, she had given up her own tent and sleeping mat for the girl, insisting she had too much work to do in preparation for their departure the next day. Rose accepted the gesture gratefully, as well as the clothes that also clearly belonged to Peggy. She wasn't too sure about actually _wearing_ the clothes that looked super uncomfortable compared to her legging and hoodie but it was nice to have the option all the same. Then, for the first time since arriving in the MCU, she was alone and it was _quiet._ Rose had expected to fall asleep quickly, having not slept properly since arriving but her mind was racing a million miles an hour, trying to process everything that had happened so far.. As far as she was aware, the next big thing she'd have to get through would be meeting Howard Stark, who would have an infinite number of questions for her no doubt, once he knew her story. She couldn't quite read how Peggy felt about her, but she didn't think they'd be BFFs any time soon. _Oh well, they say never meet your heroes_. She thought back to Bucky earlier, and how his face fell when he thought no one was watching him. _He's just lost the Steve he knows to the super soldier program, and now Steve's in the war that he tried so hard to protect him from, of course he's upset_ , Rose reasoned. Still, she wanted to get him to talk about it. He wasn't getting away with the toxic masculinity of ignoring his emotions on her watch. After a while, exhaustion won out against her overactive mind, and Rose fell into a fitful sleep. It was dawn all too quickly, a blaring trumpet announcing its arrival. _Damn, they actually do that?_ Rose groaned, wishing her accomodation was more comfortable and dreading getting up. She laid out the clothes Peggy had provided her with, wrinkling her nose at the stiff military blouse and trousers. _At least it's not a skirt_ , Rose thought as she dressed, happily pairing her now less than white converse with the uniform. She exited the tent and nearly walked right into Bucky.

"I was just coming to see if you were awake," he said brightly, some sleep obviously having done him a world of good. "Come on, let's get you some food."

"Are we going to London today?" Rose asked hopefully.

"That's the plan. Why, you got somewhere to be, doll?" he teased.

"Ok, first of all, don't ever call me doll, like, just no," she bristled. "Second, I like to know what's happening, ok?"

"Well first on the agenda is food, _doll_." He smirked widely as he said the nickname, lowering his head so that his face was just inches from her own. _Ugh, why does he have to be so annoying but so goddamn cute. Motherfucker._ Rose narrowed her eyes at him.

"I will hit you, Barnes."

"I'd like to see you try," he laughed, leaning back. "Come on," he grabbed her hand and started pulling her along with him, "Food." Rose's stomach growled in response to the word.

"Traitor." She muttered, poking at it. Bucky shook his head, amused by her antics but satisfied that she was now following him.

"Barnes!" A voice called as they neared the food station. The soon-to-be-Howling Commandos were gathered there with Steve. The one with the bowler hat - definitely Dugan, Rose concluded - had called out and was waving them over. It struck Rose again just how young all the men were, most of them barely pushing 25. She couldn't imagine anyone she knew back home going through the life experience these man had at the same age. Hell, her brother was nearly 27 and had such different life. Literally worlds apart.

"Well if it isn't our damsel in distress," a soldier with a British accent greeted Rose as she walked over to the group with Bucky.

"Barely a damsel, not really in distress," Rose quipped, a challenging smile spreading across her face. "I'm Rose," she introduced herself, sticking her hand out for someone to shake. The British man grinned at her, appreciating her fiery attitude, and grabbed her hand, shaking it enthusiastically.

"James Montgomery Falsworth at your service. Call me Monty." The rest of the men followed Monty's example, shaking her hand in turn and introducing themselves.

"Gabe Jones, Miss."

"Jim Morita."

"Dum Dum Dugan." _So I was write about who Bowler Hat is then_. The last man grabbed her hand and raised it to his lips to kiss the back of it.

" _Enchanté_ , mademoiselle. Je suis Jacques Dernier."

"Bonjour monsieur," Rose replied. Dernier's face lit up when she replied in his own language.

"Ah! Tu parles en francais?" He asked excitedly.

"Oui, un petit peu, mais ce n'est pas bon." She answered shyly, not wanting to test her memory of high school French too much.

"Alright, Romeo, that's enough," Bucky cut in as Dernier opened his mouth to speak again. "Grubs up," he said as he handed a bowl to Rose. She tried not be too judgmental of its contents, knowing the war wouldn't really allow for better food. Still, she had a hard time forcing the tasteless grey porridge down her throat, even though it did satisfy the empty feeling in her stomach. The Commandos trickled away one by one as she ate, until it was just her and Bucky sitting on the benches by the food station.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Bucky?" she asked him as his took her empty bowl.

"Nope," he replied, sitting casually back next to her on the bench.

"They told you to keep an eye me, didn't they?"

"Yep."

"Right."

They sat in silence for a while, watching the activity around them. At one point Steve walked past with Peggy, raising his hand in greeting at the pair. Bucky responded in kind, rather half heartedly.

"You wish it was you, don't you?" Rose said, watching his face carefully.

"What's that?" He refused to meet her eyes.

"The whole super soldier thing, you wish it was you." Bucky looked at her sharply, trying to find the right words to respond but Rose carried on talking. "Not in like, a jealous way. Just, like, you were trying to keep Steve away from the war and then you leave for what, five minutes? And he goes and does this. Now he's on the front lines and you can't protect him anymore. War is real, and it's not pretty, and you have no idea how long either of you will last. Right now, Steve is exactly where he wants to be, being _Captain America_ , but you… You've already lost that little asthmatic kid from Brooklyn. It's a very real possibility you might lose this new and improved Steve too." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Look, I can't tell you much about your specific futures, but I can tell you that one way or another, you both survive this."

Bucky furrowed his brow thinking over her words, not exactly sure how to reply, and not exactly sure how she knew just what he needed to hear. He started to say something a couple of times before thinking better of it. Instead he stood up and gestured for her to follow him.

"Come on, we'll be moving out soon."

Rose sighed, rolling her shoulders as she stood, her body still very sore from the previous day's walk and the less than comfortable sleeping arrangements. Various joints cracked at the movement.

"Fuck me, I need a good stretch," she muttered.

"I'm not gonna get used to that." Bucky commented, raising his eyebrows at her.

"What?" Rose asked innocently as she started walking after him.

"The casual swearing."

"It's pretty fucking normal in 2018." She grinned at him. He rolled his eyes at her and they continued on their way. Bucky had been right, they were beginning to move out to a small airfield, where soldiers were filing onto a plane with various equipment.

"You been on a airplane before?" Bucky asked Rose, obviously hoping she would say no.

"Please, getting on a plane is practically like getting on a bus for me," she told him smugly.

"'Course it is…" he mumbled, shaking his head at her. He lead them to join the line of soldiers boarding the plane. They were going to London.

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	7. Chapter 6

**A fairly filler-ish chapter, but some fun times in this one. I'm so excited for beyond this chapter and developing Rose's relationships with everyone! I've got plan right through until Infinity War :D**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OC.**

The flight was fairly uneventful, once Rose got used to the military plane. It wasn't bad, but it was a far cry from modern commercial flights, however the full body seatbelt did feel a lot safer than one just across her lap. She clutched a small backpack that Bucky seemed to have produced from out of nowhere containing her 21st century clothes. She hoped that she would be able to get them washed, there was no way she was parting with them. She was surprised that no one had brought up her unusual attire sooner, something like a hoodie being especially uncommon in the forties. Not only that, it was her high school graduation hoodie, with _Waimea College 2014 Leavers_ embellished on the front and her last name, Hammond, plastered across the back. Bucky had briefly asked about it during the walk back to base, forever curious about the future.

After landing in London, Rose and the Commandos crammed into the back of a military truck, which would take them to the underground bunker that served as the SSR headquarters. Colonel Phillips had informed them that they had a week to recover from their captivity with Hydra, so a night out on the town was being planned.

"Do you drink, sweetheart?" Dugan asked as the truck bumped along the road.

"Mate, I could murder a drink," Rose wasn't necessarily a regular drinker, but she knew how to hold her liquor. "And seriously guys, cut it out with the nicknames." Dugan held his hands up in mock surrender before turning back to the other men. Rose took a deep breath, closing her eyes tight and resting her head back against the wall of the truck. Her mind was currently in the dilemma of how best to handle Howard Stark. She had very mixed feelings about the character - while he was a good guy and a friend to Steve during the war, his terrible parenting would leave a permanent mark on Tony in the future.

"You ok?" Bucky asked her, lowering his voice so the others couldn't hear. Rose opened her eyes but refused to look at him.

"Yeah, just tired," she replied dismissively. He looked unconvinced, but dropped the subject.

A few minutes later, the truck slowed to a stop and they exited onto a regular looking London street. Well, a regular _forties_ London street. Peggy was standing outside of a tall building waiting for them.

"Welcome to Headquarters, soldiers," she greeted them. "This building houses the SSR and all its personnel." She began leading them into a foyer that looked like that of a regular hotel. "All our operations take place in the bunker beneath this building. The building itself acts as a living quarters, with a small training facility and infirmary on the first floor. You will collect a numbered key from the desk and that room number will be where you will live while you stay here. The remainder of the day is yours to do with as you wish, but please report to the infirmary for a medical exam at 0900 tomorrow. Dismissed." Rose was glad of the explanation, the living arrangements of the commandos were not something that was covered in the movie. "Rogers, Hammond, with me."

Rose and Steve glanced at each other before moving to follow Peggy to a code-locked elevator. Bucky looked as if he wanted to follow but thought better of it and went to collect the key to his new apartment. Rose met his eyes across the foyer, offering a small smile of reassurance as the elevator doors closed.

"Captain, I need you to take a look at the map that we discussed," Peggy informed Steve. Rose knew the map she was referring to; this was when the Colonel would commission the Howling Commandos to wipe Hydra off of it. "Miss Hammond, you are to report to Stark. Colonel Phillips has decided that you are too dangerous to be released into the public, so you are to be Mr Stark's assistant while you are here." Peggy handed Rose a key. "This is your room. I have arranged for appropriate clothing to be ready there for you later." And with that, the elevator doors dinged open and Peggy strode away, Steve following in her wake.

"Stark. Right." Rose looked around the bunker, totally lost as people bustled past her.

"Can I help you?" someone asked politely. Rose noticed the blonde girl immediately, mainly because she was _gorgeous_. She couldn't remember the name but she knew this was Natalie Dormer's character. She was the spitting image. _Wow_ , she thought, _Tumblr was right. She really does look like the lovechild of Hawkeye and Black Widow._

"Uh, I um…" Rose stumbled over her words. "I'm actually looking for Howard Stark?"

The blonde woman looked her up and down before nodding curtly and leading the way through the various rooms to an open-plan lab. It was a far cry from Zola's lab in the factory - exponentially better lit to start with - various tables held an array of weapon prototypes amongst other things. In the middle of the lab stood Howard Stark, mulling over shield designs on the table in front of him.

"Mr Stark," not-Natalie-Dormer called, getting the man's attention.

"Private Lorraine, what can I-" Stark cut himself off when he caught sight of Rose. "Thank you, Private, dismissed." The other woman left Rose alone with him. "I take it you're Miss Hammond?" Stark asked her, excitement blooming.

"I am. I take it you've been made aware of my… situation?" Rose replied tentatively.

"I have." Stark was barely able to contain himself by this point. "I've been given permission by the Colonel to have full knowledge of anything you can tell me." He grinned at Rose, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. "Wow, the future! I can't imagine what it must be like! But unfortunately those questions will have to wait. For now I want to know, from your point of view, exactly how you ended up here…"

Rose told him her story, in slightly more detail then she had anyone else given Stark's scientific background. She figured it would throw him a bone so to speak, because she was still only going so far as saying the future for now. Even to Stark, the words _parallel universe_ could be too much. After an hour or two, Stark walked her back up to the main foyer, helping her claim a key for a temporary apartment. As far as he - and apparently Peggy and Colonel Phillips - was concerned, she was employed by the SSR and would be treated as such. After Stark went back downstairs, Rose made her way up to the apartment on the fourth floor.

The room was simple; a single bed with a nightstand just behind the door, a two-seater sofa pushed against the wall under the window, a small desk in the corner with some shelves, and a small ensuite on the other side of the bed. Necessities such as basic toiletries and bedding were already provided, as well as pens and some paper on the desk. As far as Rose was concerned, the shelves were begging to be filled with books. She dumped her backpack with her meager belongings on the bed and pulled out the small bundle of cash Stark had shoved into her hand before leaving her dumbfounded in the foyer.

"Welcome to 1943," he had said.

Rose had been pleased to find a towel and a fairly modern shower in the ensuite, relishing the feeling of the hot water flowing over her body. Just after she had changed back into the clothes she had travelled in, there was a knock at her door. She was surprised to find Peggy on the other side, a sizable suitcase in hand.

"These are for you." She passed the suitcase to Rose. "Clothes and undergarments and such. Most of it is suitable for everyday use, however there is a dark blue dress in there that I would suggest if you plan on joining our soldiers at the pub later." Rose placed the suitcase on the bed and turned back to Peggy, who was still eyeing her warily from the doorway.

"Thank you, Agent Carter," Rose said sincerely. Peggy moved to leave before Rose began talking again. "I just want you to know, I, like, totally have the utmost respect for you and will help in any way I can." Peggy stared her for a moment before softening her gaze.

"Put your old clothes in the hamper in the bathroom, we have housekeeping to take care of that." She began walking down the hallway. "I hope to see you tonight," she threw over her shoulder as she entered the elevator. Rose closed her door and opened the suitcase feeling like she was opening a costume box back in her high school theatre days.  
"Blue dress, blue dress…" She muttered to herself as she began digging through the box.

* * *

An hour or so, Rose was dressed in the number that Peggy had suggested. It was dark blue alright, but more akin to a flapper dress than a 1940s cocktail dress. Rose vaguely wondered if Peggy was trying to embarrass her before remembering that Peggy of all people would be above such a thing. Besides, the dress hugged her body in all the right places, as well as being sleeveless and just shy of a scandalous length for this decade. Rose didn't really know what she was expected to look like as far as hair and makeup was concerned, so she parted her white blonde hair down the middle and pulled it into a low ponytail - much more 2018. She found a small case of makeup amongst the clothes and painted her face in an old Hollywood glam, paired with the darkest red lipstick she could find. So far the soldiers had only seen her battered and weary, so Rose was preparing to show them what a 21st century girl was _really_ like.

Stark had insisted on accompanying her to dinner; "I'll show you the real London cuisine, not that slop they serve in the mess hall."

Rose grinned wickedly at her reflection when she heard a knock on the door. Stark was facing away from her when she opened it.

"So, I thought I'd take you t- Holy cow!" His jaw literally dropped as he took in her appearance.

"That's the reaction I was going for." Rose grinned wider as he gaped at her, not entirely sure what to say. "So, food? I'm starving." She walked past him out into the hall, swinging her long coat over her shoulder as she shut her door behind her. "Stark?" She called, turning back to see him still standing dumbfounded outside her door. "Coming or nah?"

"I, uh… Yeah," Star seemed to remember himself then, catching up to Rose and tucking her arm around his own. "Please, call me Howard."

"Lead the way then, Howard." And off they went.

A while later, Howard escorted Rose to the door or the pub where the soldiers were celebrating their return. Their dinner had been absolutely _divine_. Howard pulled out all the stops to impress Rose with the food, however he had admitted that he preferred a classic American burger himself. Rose laughed at that, thinking about how Tony Stark had insisted on an American cheeseburger after his captivity in 2008. _Like father, like son I guess_. Rose had shared more tidbits about the future, with strict instructions to Howard that he wasn't to try and create any of the tech she mentioned, lest he inadvertently steal someone else's idea.

Now that she was outside the pub - which was incidentally across the street from Headquarters - Rose felt nervous, and a little tipsy from the champagne she had shared with Howard. She could see the newly instated Commandos drinking and laughing at a table together, Steve and Bucky would be sitting around the bar somewhere she deduced.

"Are you going to continue to stare through the window, or are you going to go in?" Peggy made Rose jump, exiting the pub to stand beside her. She was wearing a stunning red dress, making Rose realise she had just missed the scene that played out in the pub in the movie.

"I was just… Um…" Rose took a deep breath. "Preparing myself." Peggy nodded.

"How was dinner with Howard?"

"I think it's the start of a beautiful friendship," Rose laughed.

"Glad to hear it. Now you best get inside, I believe Sergeant Barnes is quite anxious for your arrival." Peggy gave Rose a once over before smiling slyly. "Definitely the blue dress." With that, Peggy strode away, leaving Rose to enter the pub alone. _What the hell_. She pushed open the door.

The pub smelled of beer and tobacco, not unlike a modern pub Rose noted. The festive singing died down as the door closed behind her, the Commandos and other occupants of the bar shocked into silence at her appearance the same why Howard had been earlier. Dugan recovered first, ushering Rose over to their table.

"Rose! Good to see you, doll. You look…" He struggled to find the word.

"I, uh, I'm gonna go get a drink." Rose saved him from trying to finish his sentence. She made her way over to the bar where Steve and Bucky were sitting. The two stopped mid conversation when they saw her, realising that she was the reason for the pub quieting around them. She smiled shyly at them before approaching the bar.

"I'll have a, uh… Vodka martini? Do you make those?" The bartender confirmed that indeed he did and began to grab the appropriate liquor off of the shelves behind the bar.

"Her drink's on me." Bucky reached across Steve to slap some cash on the bar in front of Rose. She looked at him slowly.

"Um, thanks, but I got this." She pushed his money back towards him, pulling out some of the cash that Howard had given her.

"I insist." Bucky slid his cash back. Rose glared at him. If she was less tired and in need of some harder alcohol, she might have accepted his chivalry. But she was from 2018; she could manage to get her own drink in a bar.

"Cut him some slack, Rose," Steve interrupted their staring contest from where he was standing between them. "He's already been rejected once tonight, his ego can't take any more." Rose knew about Peggy rejecting his offer for a dance, and she was holding back a smile at Steve's blatant roast of his friend.

"Ok, fine," She conceded, "but I'm buying you one as well."

"I'll take it!" Bucky announced after a moment's thought. "I'll have what she's having." He told the bartender, who began making another after giving Rose her drink. _Another!_ She thought, trying not to laugh while imagining Steve and Bucky smashing their glasses on the ground Thor-style.

"Hey Steve," she got the super soldier's attention, "you know Peggy, like, only has eyes for you, right?" Steve choked on the drink he was taking.

"Wha..? No way! She's… she's…" He struggled to find the words to describe just how impossible he thought that was.

"She was definitely flirting with you, pal," Bucky agreed with Rose, humour sparkling in his eyes. Steve continued to deny all knowledge while Rose looked over to the table of Howling Commandos. They were full of merriment, laughing and singing loudly.

"I'm gonna go see the boys over there, they look like they're having a great time." Rose said, moving away from the bar.

"Don't drink too much, they're hard to keep up with." Bucky warned.

"I'm here for a good time, not a long time, Sarge." Rose called as she walked backwards away from him, raising her martini glass to him.

An hour or so later, Rose's coat was draped over the back of her chair while she was three martinis deep listening to the Commandos tell stories. Steve had left - ever the responsible one - while Bucky had pulled up a chair next to Rose, commenting how he wanted to see how a future girl could hold her drink. Rose was beyond tipsy by now, just shy of being too far gone to be appropriate. She hadn't quite realised the potency of old school liquor, as well as taking into account the champagne she had with Howard earlier. A man was playing the piano in the corner of the bar and Rose twisted in her chair to watch him.

"You guys need, like, a theme song… or a fight song!" Rose declared turning back to them. The men laughed at her. "I'm serious! … And I think I know the perfect one!" Rose waited for a pause in the piano before launching into the chorus of a song she thought was quite fitting; "We are the champions, my friend! And we'll keep on fighting till the end! Dun, dun, dun," she air-guitared, "We are the champions, we are the champions, no time for losers, 'cause we are the champions…" She paused for dramatic effect. "...Of the world!" The commandos clapped at her performance while she took a bow. "Thank you, thank you. I'm here till Thursday." She laughed at her own joke, obviously knowing no-one else would get the Shrek reference.

"Future song?" Bucky asked quietly once she sat back down, highly amused by her antics.

"Yep! I actually really miss my music. Fuck I wish I had my phone, there are so many songs I'd wanna show you…" She trailed off, closing her eyes and feeling her head begin to spin.

"I think I better get you back." Bucky sounded suddenly concerned.

"Excuse you, you were trying to get me drunk before!" Rose accused. It was true that Bucky had been the one to buy Rose more drinks but it was more in an attempt at being a gentleman than anything else.

"Alright, time to go." Bucky pulled Rose up from the table, grabbing her coat. "G'night fellas." The Commandos bid them goodnight, continuing on with their own festivities. Bucky pulled Rose's coat around her shoulder as the left the pub, keeping an arm around her in fear of her wandering off in her drunken state.

"I'm not fragile, ya know," Rose stated, but made no move to pull away from him. Bucky led her back across the street to Headquarters and into the elevator to take them up to their respective rooms. "Hey Bucky?" Rose said softly, leaning against the elevator wall.

"Yeah, doll?" He yawned.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"Just… I know what happens. And I'm sorry because I wish I could change it but I think it has to happen." Rose's eyes started welling up as she spoke. _Damn alcohol, making me emotional!_

"But… you said I survive… Right?" Bucky said slowly, anxiety creeping into him. The elevator dinged, arriving at Rose's floor. She stepped out, and turned back to him.

"You do survive. But surviving and living are two different things." The elevator went to close. Bucky stuck his arm out at the last second, stopping the doors from shutting. He followed after her as she walked glumly back to her room, making herself upset with her drunk thoughts.

"Is it worth it?" Bucky asked suddenly, not meeting Rose's questioning look. "Whatever is supposed to happen to us, to me, is it worth it?" Rose thought about his future. About the years Bucky would endure under the control of Hydra, about how his mind would be in tatters, only recovering properly once he is in Wakanda. " _Who the hell is Bucky?"_ She thought about how he reclaims his life, how happy Steve will be to have his best friend back when he thought Bucky had died tragically. She thought about how Bucky Barnes, standing before her now, was a different person to the Winter Soldier, and even the White Wolf. She grabbed his hand, making him look at her.

"I don't know if it's worth it, but I might already be getting too personally attached to be objective. But it's important, and as far as I know, the future might depend on it." Rose answered him sincerely, her heart breaking for him, and for how much he would likely hate her in the future for knowing all that he would go through. _If he even remembers me_.

"Then you have to let it happen, don't you?" Bucky said softly, wiping a stray tear from her cheek, his hand lingering. They stayed like that for a few moments before the sound of a door slamming down the hallway shook them back to reality. Bucky dropped his hand as Rose unlocked her door, the previous conversation sobering her up.

"Goodnight Bucky," she whispered, going into her room.

"Goodnight, Rose," he replied, but she was already gone.

 **Follow, and Favourite, and legit please review! I'd love to know what y'all think!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Eight what up! I'm trying to make sure I develop the relationships between the characters before jumping head first into too much action, so this chapter is a little filler-ish. Action to come next chapter though! Also, on the more emotional chapters (which there will be - oh, mate, do I have some shit plaaaaaned) I'm gonna put a song in the author's note so y'all get a feel for the kind of emotion I was going for. Anywho, on with the story!**

"So you're telling me there's a main Hydra base?" Colonel Phillips was grilling a fairly hungover Rose on the map Steve had marked out the previous day.

"Yes, Colonel," Rose pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to fend off an impending headache. "You have to hit the smaller bases first though, these ones marked out-" she pointed to the map "-or it's not gonna mean much."

"I believe you may be right there, Hammond." The Colonel agreed, scratching his chin in thought. "Dismissed. I want you to go help Stark with the gear."

Rose pushed away from where she had been leaning over the table, sluggishly making her way to Howard's lab. She entered just as three loud gunshots rang out. She ducked instinctively, covering her already sensitive ears. She groaned when she saw Peggy with the gun aimed at the prototype shield Steve was holding up.

"Oh my fucking god!" Rose yelled in exasperation - she had no patience for loud noises today. Peggy simply placed the gun on the table next to her before fixing Steve with a patronizingly sweet smile.

"I think it works," she stated and then turned on her heel and strode out of the lab. Steve and Howard stared after her, shocked. Rose snatched the shield off of Steve, marvelling at how light it was. Vibranium was such a technological game-changer, and Howard had made it into a _fucking_ _frisbee_. Rose was planning on giving Howard absolute hell for that.

"I had some ideas about the uniform." Steve passed a piece of paper to Howard, both men still staring after Peggy.

"Whatever you want, pal." Howard moved back over to his work bench. "Morning, Rose. How's the head?" He chuckled at her pained expression.

"Not amazing, but I've had worse. Remind me to tell you about my 21st." She passed the shield back to Steve. "That thing will be real handy once you get the hang of it, Cap. Literally a frisbee."

"Hey! That is the rarest metal on Earth!" Howard defended.  
"Frisbee," Rose called in a singsong voice. Steve practiced some movements with it, getting a feel for the shield.

"Ok, obviously you're gonna wanna do it in not a lab, but you can, like, fully just yeet that thing to take people out." Rose hoisted herself up to sit on the desk beside where Howard was working.

"I'm sorry, was that sentence in English?" Steve asked her.

"Right, sorry, I forget that people talk totally different in the 21st century. A lot more casual, plus I'm pretty sure memes are a language in themselves." Rose explained. "To yeet is basically, like, to throw something."

"Is saying the word 'like' unnecessarily in every other sentence also a 21st century thing?" Howard said sarcastically, not looking up from the blueprints that currently covered his desk.

"Actually, yes. I guess it replaces, like, saying um instead."

"The future is weird," Steve remarked.

"That it is, Cap, that it is."

"Well, Rogers," Howard got up, "from what I hear, it's going to take a little bit of time to find the first of the Hydra bases, plus I need to make your uniform stab-proof. Like I said before, Hydra's not going to come at you with a pocket knife."

Rose choked back a laugh. The two men looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Sorry, sorry, just… I wouldn't put it past Hydra to use a pocket knife. Very useful in close combat, might even have someone trained in it." The Winter Soldier was quite handy with a knife, and Rose had already seen Bucky been quite apt with one, flipping one around as he had walked through the army camp like it was a nervous tick.

"Well it's a good thing we're doing more training in close combat before we attempt to take a Hydra base - seeing as we have some time before they find one, even with my narrowing down the locations on the map," Steve said. Rose pushed herself off of the desk.

"I can help!" she announced. Steve looked at her skeptically.

"I don't know…"

"Well obviously I'm not gonna be able to take down you, you fucking neanderthal," she stated playfully, "but just because I don't have the strength to execute a move, doesn't mean I don't know how to do it. I did boxing at home." She rolled her eyes at him. _Typical of a 40s man to assume I'm helpless_. Steve and Howard were speechless, not really wanting to argue with her. Besides, she did have a point and if she could be useful in any way to Howling Commandos, she would do it.

"Morning fellas, Rose," Bucky greeted as he waltzed into the lab grinning like an idiot. "Guess who's medically cleared to join Stevie on his little missions?" Steve returned Bucky's grin, while Rose glared at him.

"For fuck's sake, are you even hungover?" She groaned at his chirpiness.

"Nope."

"Well we have to find the bases first, so in the meantime we'll be doing some training." Steve told him.

"Always looking for a fight, aren't you?" Bucky teased him.

"Hey! I could always hold my own." Steve said defensively.

"Sure you could. Punk."

"Jerk."

"Rose." Howard got her attention while Steve and Bucky continued to banter. "That stuff you asked for should have been delivered to your room by now."

"What stuff?" Steve asked, turning away from Bucky.

"Just a couple of books, pens, paper, et cetera. You know, the essentials." The men looked skeptical at her use of the word 'essential'. "Thanks, Howard!" Rose began to half jog out of the lab in her excitement. She paused in the doorway. "What's the date today?"

"November 5th, 1943. Why?" Howard answered her.

"Huh. I turned 22 three days ago… But also, like, negative 53 years? Time is so weird." And then she left the lab.

"So, Barnes," Howard began, "I hear you're quite the sniper…"

* * *

A neat package was sitting on the desk in Rose's room which she wasted no time in ripping into. Three hardback books - Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and The Hobbit - were accompanied by two immaculate Sheaffer fountain pens, which were apparently very popular in the forties, and two leather bound notebooks. Rose had told Howard the previous day that the quality of the notebooks didn't matter but he insisted on only getting her the best. She opened the first one and sat down at the desk with one of the pens. _DO NOT OPEN UNTIL APRIL 2012_ , she wrote as a warning on the first page. _For Steve_ , she wrote on the second. Rose intended to write a huge letter of explanation in this notebook, and have Howard put it in some kind of safety deposit box to be delivered to Tony in the future. She hoped Tony would the pass it on to Steve, but she wasn't exactly sure how likely that was to happen given Tony's contempt for Steve when they first meet. _Maybe I can get it delivered to Fury to pass on somehow?_ She wondered. A few lines down she wrote some song lyrics, hoping to one day actually play the song for Steve. _It's been a long day without you, my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again_. The song was damn emotional in her world, with the circumstances under which it was written. But damn, if she didn't feel like it related to Steve and Bucky - and now herself. She wasn't even sure she could call Steve a friend. It was weird being a fan to the point where you feel like you know the characters but when actually faced with them, you have no idea how to act around them. So far, Rose was just trying to be herself. She could tell Bucky had taken an interest in her - mainly because she was so different from the kind of girls he was used to. She only knew that because he had told her as much at the pub the previous night.

Rose closed the book, deciding to get to know Steve the Person better than Steve the Character before writing what she needed to. She rubbed her temples trying to soothe her headache. This was starting to get complicated. Steve would _hate_ her if he knew what she knew about his and Bucky's future, and she already getting far too attached to the pair to simply let it happen. These were real people's lives she was involved in now. _Dammit, why did Bucky have to be so fucking cute!_ Rose knew she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit that he was very attractive. Back home, she was the only girl in her flat with three boys, so it's not like she was nervous around them. It was more the fact that she hadn't been on anything that even resembled a date in over a year due to her generation's lack of man who actually wanted to seriously date. Therefore Bucky's 1940s gentleman act really threw her. Even though she had to keep reminding herself that he was probably as close as this decade got to being a fuckboy, even with the chivalry.

Rose got up from the desk, grabbing the copy of The Hobbit as she made her way over to the small sofa. She was thrilled that this had been published in only the last few years. The Lord Of the Rings wouldn't be published for around another ten or so, but it one of her favourites. She even had a small tattoo of J.R.R. Tolkien's drawing of Smaug the dragon on her ankle. No one here had seen it yet, but she was quite sure it would get a bit of a reaction if they did. She nearly had the opening passage to The Hobbit memorised, smiling to herself as she sat down, the familiar words providing some comfort in the unfamiliar world she was in. A knock sounded on her door, interrupting her reading.

"It's open," Rose called, not looking up from her book. Bucky poked his head around the door

"Can I come in?" He asked, already pushing the door open a little more.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Bucky came in, almost sheepishly closing the door behind him. He perched himself on the end of of her bed, studying the small collection of books and pens on the desk.

"Can… I help you?" Rose asked when he didn't say anything. He reached up to scratch the back of his neck nervously.

"I, uh… I wanted to ask…" He trailed off like he was unsure about how to approach whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about.

"You wanted to ask…?" Rose prompted.

"Do they… Can… Are there really flying cars in the future?" He asked the question in such a rush that Rose almost didn't catch what he said. He stared at his lap while he waited for her to answer, as if she would tell him to leave or that it was a stupid question.

"Oh, honey… _Bless_." Rose couldn't help but find the curious puppy look absolutely adorable on him.

"You're laughing at me," he accused, then mumbled, "stupid question."

"No, no, no, I promise I'm not laughing at you. It's not a stupid question at all." She bit back a smile.

"Then why _are_ you laughing?"

"Because I've read in, like, multiple places that you were super into technology and a little bit of a science nerd, and I'm sorry but the way you ask me about the future is _adorable_." Rose grinned widely as he narrowed his eyes at her and folded his arms across his chest.

"What else have you read about me?"

"Apparently you're quite the ladies man." Rose waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively.

"What?! I… No! I just like going out… with company."

"Uh huh, sure thing." Rose said sarcastically.

"I mean… I want to go dancing… Girls want to go dancing… It just sorta… makes sense to take them, right?" Bucky stumbled over his words, which only heightened Rose's amusement.

"Oh, absolutely, that's definitely the only reason." She nodded in mock seriousness.

"I… You're teasing me, aren't you?"

"Took you long enough," Rose laughed at him. "To answer your question; no, cars do not fly in the future."

"Huh." Bucky knitted his eyebrows together, seeming to think deeply about the revelation of not having flying cars to look forward to. Rose cleared her throat, interrupting his thought.

"So apart from you needing to satisfy your inner nerd, was there any other reason for this visit?"

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come to training tomorrow." Rose only just stopped her jaw from dropping at his question. "I mean, we're not expecting you to keep up with us or anything, we _are_ trained soldiers-"  
"I'll be there." Rose cut him off, not liking his assumption that she would be weak.

"I know you said you went to the gym so…" Bucky tried to backtrack.

"Yeah, I do. I'll be there," she said shortly.

"Ok, well, I guess I'll see you at dinner," he stood to leave.

"Actually Howard is taking me somewhere, so I'll see you tomorrow." Bucky turned around from the door at her answer, his face falling ever so slightly.

"Oh… Ok… See you then…" He opened the door, hovering for a moment as if he wanted to say something else before exiting, closing the door behind him.

Rose stared at the closed door for a few moments, unsure how she felt about Bucky Barnes seeking her out and confused about his reaction to her having dinner with Howard. Rose was so far getting along famously with Howard, his curious yet easy going nature going well with her 21st century attitude. She was sure that when the time was right, she might be able to tell him about her real home, about how she was from more than just the future. Steve was also a dream to get along with, though Rose knew to expect a far more jaded version of the young man in the future. Peggy also seemed to be warming up to her, and Colonel Phillips was taking Rose's advice for taking out Hydra seriously. The only person she was having trouble figuring out was Bucky. He went between being a wide-eyed twenty-something year old, to a serious sergeant, to a gentleman, to just as annoying as any other boy Rose knew, all in the space of about ten minutes. It was as if he wasn't sure how to act around her. Rose was just trying her best to remain herself in his company but felt like she had to prove that she wasn't just a damsel in distress. The independent confident girl attitude was struggling when Rose felt a flutter in her stomach whenever Bucky smiled at her or she made him laugh. _I can't get attached. I can't. He has to become the Winter Soldier and that will hurt too much if I'm attached_... _I am always a sucker for tall, dark, and a pair of pretty blue eyes, though…_

"Fuck." Rose swore out loud.

 **Follow, fave, review! Like seriously please review, it's my motivation. Ily to all who have reviewed so far and I'm replying to longer reviews. Thanks fam!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Next chapter fam! So I know the description says this story is Bucky/OC, and I promise we're getting there. It's gonna be a slowish burn. Also I'm planning on this going right into Infinity War but am unsure if I should just make this a SUPER long fic or end the CATFA storyline and do the sequel as a separate Avengers fic. Let me know what you think in the comments!**

 **PS. In my head, the perfect song for Bucky and Rose (eventually) is Like I'm Gonna Lose You by Jasmine Thompson. Heartbreaking. Which is what I'm going for #sorrynotsorry. Anyways, on with the story!**

The Howling Commandos were taking a break from doing training drills in the small gymnasium. Bucky wasn't struggling quite as much as the other men - apart from Steve. He had thought his recent captivity would have taken more of a physical toll on him but he almost felt _stronger_ than before. He had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with whatever Zola had dosed him up with, and that Rose knew more about it than she was letting on. Bucky was more than a little perplexed at just how much Rose seemed to know, surely future history books weren't _that_ detailed? He had discussed it with Steve and Howard the previous day after she left the lab, coming to the conclusion that maybe she was just a history buff. Bucky couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to it though…

"How you feeling, Buck?" Steve came to stand beside him, swigging water from his canteen.

"I'm fine, Steve." He sighed, drinking from his own canteen.

"Didn't you say Rose was going to come to training?" Steve asked curiously.

"Yeah, she uh, she seemed pretty determined…" Bucky trailed off when he spotted Rose across the room, loitering in the doorway looking nervous.

"You like her." Steve stated when he noticed his friend's attention shift. Bucky looked at him before purposely facing away from the door.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Steve laughed. "Hey, I'm just stating the obvious. I'm surprised you haven't asked her out dancing yet." He eyed Bucky suspiciously. "You haven't asked her, have you?"

"No, Steve, I haven't. She's so different from any other girl I've met, I don't even know how to act around her." Bucky admitted.

"Just be yourself."

"What, like you with Agent Carter?"

Steve nearly choked on his water. "That's not… There's nothing… She doesn't even like me like that!"

"I beg to differ," the corners of Bucky's lips tugged up in amusement. Steve was always clueless when it came to women and it was reassuring that the super soldier serum hadn't changed his personality.

"I… She… Hey, Rose!" Steve called out the blonde girl to steer away from the conversation. Rose smiled shyly and began walking towards the pair.

"Hey, guys," she greeted.

"You up for this?" Steve asked her, referring to the training.

"Sure, why not?" She smiled more enthusiastically. She was looking forward to doing something physical, she was starting to get anxious just sitting around.

"Alright," Steve called out a little louder, gaining the attention of the rest of the Commandos. "Pair up, let's practice some hand to hand."

"Miss Rose, I would be happy to-" Monty began, striding over to Rose and Steve.

"She's got a partner, pal." Bucky cut in, momentarily surprising everyone - including himself.

"Well, boys, looks like I'm taken." She announced flirtily before following Bucky to a space on the sparring mats. Rose missed Steve's smirk in their directions, which Bucky responded to with a glare. He turned around to face Rose, lazily shoving his hands into his pockets.

"You know how to punch?" He asked her. Rose narrowed her eyes at his mildly condescending tone.

"Yes." She snapped, folding her arms across her chest. Bucky huffed at her response.

"Look, I don't really want to hurt you…"

"Fucking. Try. Me." She bit out, her annoyance spiking.

"Alright…" Bucky held his palms up for her to hit. She took a boxing stance, mentally thanking whoever had washed her 21st century clothes so that she could wear them to train. Bucky began to call hits for her to do. "Jab, cross, hook-"

He barely got the last word out before she lashed out, punching as he had said with as much force as he could. A satisfied smirk crossed her face when he retracted his hands, shaking them a little at force with which she had hit them.

"Jeez, Rose, I get it. You can punch." Bucky was surprised at the strength behind her punches. "Alright, self defense…" He reached a hand out towards her, intending on explaining the moves as they went, but Rose was far more capable than he gave her credit for.

Rose grabbed his outstretched hand in her own, twisting it away from his body and towards the ground. His natural reaction was to go with the hand, like she had been hoping. She kicked her leg out, hooking her foot around the back of his bent knee and forced him to the ground. When he was kneeling, she made a gun with her free hand and pointed it at his head.

" _Bang_." Rose said the single syllable in a monotone. Bucky stayed kneeling, looking up at her in shock. The rest of the gymnasium had also paused in their sparring to watch in awe as she took him down. A slow clap began at the doorway and Rose straightened to see Peggy standing there with an appraising look on her face. She nodded curtly at Rose, indicating her approval before turning to Steve.

"Captain Rogers, sorry to cut your training short but Howard needs to see you about your…" She searched for the right word. "... Uniform."

"Right," Steve said, then addressed the gym, "keep it going guys, I'll catch up with you later." He left with Peggy, leaving the Commandos still in shock at Rose's skill.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Dugan burst out as soon as Steve left. Bucky rose back to his feet, shaking his head and chuckling lightly as Rose smiled sheepishly at him. She turned to Dugan and shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm full of spite and rage. And I don't like it when people think I can't do shit." She looked around the group. "You're an odd number now. Bucky can pair up with someone else, I have my own workout I wanna do anyways." The Commandos were still dumbfounded by her as she flitted over to the punching bags and began to wrap her hands. She tried to ignore the eyes on her back as she began to lay into a bag. _I shouldn't have been able to get him down like that. Just like I shouldn't have been able to knock down that Hydra agent… The Ancient One must have increased my strength or something._

Sweat trickled down the back of her neck as she poured every fear and frustration into her punches. Fear of what was to happen in this universe, fear of failing and losing the people she was meant to protect, fear of dying here and never seeing her real friends and family again. And the frustration at how helpless she felt - if she changed the course of what was meant to happen according to the movies, she had no idea how it would impact the universe as a whole. She paused when it dawned on her. Maybe she didn't have to let it happen according to the movies.

Maybe Bucky didn't have to fall from the train.

She could simply tell Steve that Hydra would work its way into Shield and the Winter Soldier wouldn't have to be created at all.

"I can save him," Rose whispered in realisation.

"No." She spun around at the word, stumbling back into the punching bag when she saw the other occupants of the room frozen around her. The Ancient One herself was standing before Rose in her translucent astral form. Her heart pounding, Rose stepped forward angrily.

"What do you mean?"

"Sergeant Barnes must always become the Winter Soldier in order for Captain Rogers to become the man he needs to." The Ancient One replied softly. "However regrettable it is, it is a fixed point that you must ensure happens."

"But that's not fair! Why even send me here if I can't change it?!" Rose yelled.

"You are here," The Ancient One began calmly, "to gain the trust of the Captain and put events into motion that will shape the future."

"Did you increase my strength?" Rose asked, trying to get at least one straight answer.

"I gave you the means necessary to fight in a war and stay alive." The Ancient One looked to the side, looking at something Rose couldn't see. "I need to return to my own time. I will collect you when your mission in this war is complete." She vanished and time resumed as normal. Rose stood frozen, her face contorted with worry and anguish. The pair sparring closest to her noticed her sudden stillness.

"Rose, sweetheart? Are you alright?" Dugan asked gently.

"Um," Rose sniffed and blinked back the tears that had begun to form in her eyes, "yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Excuse me." She all but ran from the gym, leaving the very confused Commandos behind.

"See you guys later," Bucky muttered as he moved to follow the obviously upset Rose. Gabe let out a low whistle once he was gone.

"Sarge has got it bad for that one." The remaining Commandos all laughed in agreement.

* * *

Rose found herself on the roof of the SSR building, struggling to catch her breath. She grasped the concrete on the ledge with white knuckles and gazed out to the London skyline. It was utterly foreign to her, which only escalated her feelings of helplessness and despair. She could punch harder. _So what?_ She couldn't change anything here, not really. _Maybe_ she could give them some heads up on future events and _maybe_ it would give her new friends the upper hand. But what difference would it make really? She could barely call these people friends. They were characters that she knew so well from fictional stories, but now they were real people. They were _so_ real and they would have to face so much pain and adversity, and Rose couldn't fathom what they would think of her if they knew how much she _really_ knew…

"Rose?" A voiced called across the roof, interrupting Rose's spiralling thoughts. She didn't turn to see who it was and just gripped the ledge tighter, trying to calm her breathing.

Bucky took in Rose's hunched over position by the edge of the roof, noticing how her shoulders shook with each breath. He strode over to her and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. She tensed at the contact but didn't move away.

"Hey," Bucky said calmingly, noticing her uneven breathing. "Hey, it's just me, ok? Breathe, Rose, _breathe_."

She took a deep breath before finally looking at him.

"There she is," he smiled at her. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"I don't know if I can." She whispered, looking away again. Bucky leaned on the ledge next to her.

"Well then, what can you tell me?"

"What if," Rose started, "what if you knew something, something _big_ , that was supposed to happen, and it wasn't good but also not necessarily bad? What if you knew exactly who it would affect and who's lives it would tear apart? But you also knew that it was leading to something even bigger. Would you try to change it or just let it happen?" She refused to meet Bucky's eyes as she spoke, staring out over the city instead.

Bucky was silent for a moment before he replied. "This is _war_. Men are laying down their lives everyday to save so many more…" He trailed off. Rose huffed out a humourless laugh.

"Did you just Spock me?"

"What?"

"It's this thing this character, Spock, says in a movie; 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.'" She explained. Bucky smiled wryly.

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it."

"You never wanted to fight in the war, did you?" Rose asked.

"What makes you say that?" Bucky answered slowly.

"Is it true that you were drafted? You didn't enlist?"

"How do you know that?" He became defensive at Rose's sudden change of topic.

"It's ok, Bucky," Rose faced him, "I also know that you never told Steve you were drafted. You're trying so hard to be the man he already thinks you are." She touched Bucky's arm. "You're with him 'till the end of the line."

Bucky looked at her sharply. "Where did you hear that phrase?"

"I… It's what you guys say…" She tried to backtrack, withdrawing her touch, and realising she had revealed a little bit too much of what she knows.

"No way that's in the history books, that's way too specific." Bucky said, more to himself than to Rose. "Who are you?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I told you-"

"No, who are you, _really_?" Bucky pressed.

"I… I wasn't lying when I said I was from the future." She sighed.

"I feel like there's a 'but' in there."

"I'm from the future _but_ just not the future of this world." Rose decided there was no point in trying to hide the truth. Bucky cocked his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"How open-minded can you be?" Rose asked.

"How open-minded do I need to be?" He challenged.

"Ok, bear with me…" She thought how best to explain. "This isn't the only world - the only universe. There are millions of them, called the multiverse. Each one is just slightly different, for example there might be one where you were never drafted, or one where Steve never got the serum injected." She paused letting her worlds sink in. Bucky seemed to be keeping up so far. "There are some worlds that would be unrecognisable to both you and me. The world I come from," She took a deep breath, "the world I come from knows about this one but as _fiction_." Bucky furrowed his brow, taking in her explanation. "Let me explain another way; you know that film, The Wizard of Oz?" Bucky nodded. "Well, it's like when I ended up in Zola's lab, I suddenly found myself in Oz, but, like, already knowing how the story is supposed to end."

"So, what, am I Dorothy to you?" Bucky asked sarcastically, trying to process Rose's revelation.

Rose laughed lightly. "I'd say you're more the lion." Bucky huffed out a laugh at that.

"But to you, I'm not even real." He muttered darkly a moment later.

"Whoa, hey, no. Until like a week ago, you were _all_ fictional characters to me - that I was quite invested in, I might add. But now you're _so real_." She reassured him.

"And that's how you know so much." He concluded.

"Yes," Rose confirmed, "and if it's any consolation, you were always one of my favourites."

Bucky smirked. "Well in _that_ case…"

"Oh, shut up, pretty boy, don't let it go to your head." She rolled her eyes.

"Too late," he grinned. "So does that make me the hero?" Rose's smile faltered and she looked at the ground.

"You don't want to be a hero in this world."

"Why not?" Bucky asked warily.

"'Show me a hero," she quoted, "and I'll write you a tragedy.'"

"I'm sensing a quote…?"

"F. Scott Fitzgerald." Rose said.

"He wrote Gatsby, right?" Bucky wondered aloud. Rose looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah… You never cease to amaze me, Bucky Barnes."

"I try my best, Miss Hammond."

They stood side by side, looking out over the city below. Rose fighting internally with herself over whether she could save Bucky, despite what the Ancient One had said. Bucky, utterly fascinated with the strange girl next to him, his mind running wild with the possibilities of what she knew. A sudden gust of wind caused Rose to shiver in the cold November air.

"Come on," Bucky said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the door to go back inside, "we better get back." Rose crossed the roof with him, butterflies in her stomach and a small smile on her face as they entered the building.

 _He's still holding my hand_.

 **Follow, fave, review! Like, seriously, please review. I love reading them!**


	10. Chapter 9

**New chapter fam! Not gonna lie, I struggled with this one a bit, but all in all I think I'm happy with how it has turned out. Enjoy!**

Rose woke early the next morning, anxious to catch the Commandos in the Mess Hall. While grateful for Howard's insistence that she eat good food - which he had sent to her room - this morning she liked the idea of human interaction far more. The Mess was on the opposite side of the building to the gym and very much resembled a normal high school cafeteria. As it turned out, Rose was early. It appeared that the only occupants of the the Mess at dawn consisted of a few lowly agents, Colonel Phillips, and Peggy. Rose collected a few slices of toast and a cup of bitter coffee, and plopped herself down at the table opposite Peggy.

"Good morning," she greeted, looking up from her newspaper.

"Sup," Rose nodded in return, taking a sip from her coffee cup and making a face at the taste. Peggy raised an eyebrow at her.

"You know you don't have to drink it if you don't like the taste." She pointed out.

"I know," Rose yawned, "but it's gonna wake me up, so I gotta." Peggy shook out the large pages of her newspaper, continuing to skim through the various articles.

"I was very impressed with how you handled yourself during training yesterday."

Rose choked on her coffee at the compliment. "Uh, thanks."

"You must understand why I am wary of you, Miss Hammond, in my line of work," Peggy continued.

"Oh, yeah, I totally get it."

"However you have given me no reason to distrust you thus far, so I would like to take you out into the city this weekend." Peggy said this all while never looking up from her reading. Rose's jaw dropped. _The opportunity for a little time with Peggy_ away _from the SSR? Yes please._

"Sounds good."

"It's settled then." Peggy closed her newspaper and stood up, satisfied with Rose's answer. "See you later, _Rose_."

Peggy passed a few of the Commandos entering the Mess as she left. The men lined up to collect their food, and Rose was watching them from behind her cup, suddenly feeling shy. She tried to ignore them, and especially tried to stop her eyes from seeking out Bucky. Instead she picked up the book she had brought down with her and tried to concentrate on reading. The words blurred on the page in front of her as she felt the presence of someone sitting in the seat Peggy had vacated moments before. Rose peaked up from her book and tried to push away the pang of disappointment that it was not Bucky who had sat down with her, but Dugan and Morita.

"Mornin', ma'am" Dugan said, tipping his ever-present bowler hat at her.

"Ugh," Rose groaned, "don't ever call me ma'am."

"What are you reading?" Morita pointed to the book on the table in front of her.

"The Hobbit," Rose replied distractedly. Her eyes roamed the room for the Captain and the Sergeant, only to find that they weren't there. "Is, uh, is Steve or Bucky up yet?"

"Colonel wanted to see them first thing." Dugan answered through a mouth full of toast.

"Something to do with Hydra?" Rose enquired. She was unsure when the first mission actually took place, she only knew that the Howling Commandos were around for about a year before Steve crashed into the ice.

"Not sure. Should find out at training later."

"Right. Alright if I join again?"

"You weren't exactly there long after beating up Bucky yesterday, sweetheart." Dugan chuckled.

"Hey! I did not beat him up!" Rose defended.

"Beat his pride up, that's for sure," Morita mumbled, causing Dugan to laugh again.

"I'll be there, and this time I'll just watch and help." Rose huffed, leaning back and crossing her arms.

"You sure Stark won't miss you?" Dugan asked suggestively.

"No," Rose replied shortly before downing the remainder of her coffee. She shuddered, sticking her tongue out at the foul taste. Dugan shook his head in amusement, while Morita looked at her, confused.

"Wait, what's a hobbit?"

* * *

Rose sat on the floor of the gym with her back against the wall and her book in her lap. She was reading intently, lost in Middle Earth, when Steve and Bucky finally entered the gym. She looked up briefly, doing a double take when she saw that Steve was holding his shield. She closed her book and sat up a little straighter. Bucky glanced in her direction but didn't return her smile and avoided her questioning gaze. Steve gave her an odd look before continuing to the rest of the Commandos. Peggy followed not long afterwards and came immediately over to Rose.

"Colonel Phillips wants to see you."

Rose stood up slowly, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She glanced back to where Steve was beginning to test the movement of the shield before following Peggy from the room. Her unease only grew as Peggy silently led her through the building.

The Colonel's office was basic, a single desk with various papers scattered across it, and small filing cabinet in one corner, and a chair on one side of the desk. On the other side of the desk sat Colonel Phillips with Howard leaning against the wall to his right.

"Thank you, Agent Carter," Colonel Phillips said once they were in the room and Peggy had firmly shut the door behind them. "Take a seat, Miss Hammond."

Rose sat, her heart hammering in her chest. _I've done something wrong. What did I do? What the fuck did I do? Shit, shit, shit!_

"From the future," Colonel Phillips began, "that is what you told Sergeant Barnes when you were captured. Now Sergeant Barnes tells us that that is not the whole truth." Rose's eyes widened. Had Bucky told them about their conversation the previous day? She didn't know what to say, panic causing any words to get stuck in her throat. "This world being _fictional_ to you," the Colonel continued skeptically, "is a little harder to swallow." Phillips glanced at Howard. "What is it, Stark? I can practically hear you twitching."

"Well it's just the parallel universe theory-"

"The what now?"

"Parallel universes. It's the theory of the existence of variations on different worlds." Howard explained. "I did some reading after talking with Sergeant Barnes last night. I thought I'd heard of it before; it's mentioned but not by name in the works of Isaac Newton. There isn't a lot of research behind it, but Rose being from another universe isn't totally ludicrous - given how much she seems to know about us as individuals and not just as historical figures."

"It's called the multiverse," Rose finally found the courage to pipe up, "and trust me, I had just as hard a time believing it. But it's the truth, I'm here, so what are you going to do with me?"

"Multiverse…" Howard trailed off in wonderment. His mind was running wild with questions and theories, so fast that he couldn't even articulate them. He just stared at Rose with wide-eyed excitement and curiosity.

"Well, Miss Hammond, there's not a lot we can do with you other than what we're already doing." Colonel Phillips answered her. "However, from now on you will be required to have an escort whenever you are outside of your living quarters and any information you can share with us to help defeat Hydra will be shared."

"I, uh, I don't know what I can tell," Rose looked down at her lap, "I know how this story is supposed to end, but just my being here has probably already changed too much… I'll make a list and report back on Monday. I hate Hydra, and I don't want to see them succeed because of me."

"Monday then," Phillips nodded, "Dismissed. Stark, escort her back to the gym, I need to speak with Agent Carter."

Rose stood, quickly following Howard from the room. She glanced sidelong at him.

"I assume you have questions?" She asked him. Howard opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure what to ask first.

"How?"

"Some magic stones and a wizard," Rose deadpanned. Howard stopped walking.

"Seriously?"

"I mean I'm not wrong," she shrugged.

"Ok then, why?" Howard pressed as he began walking again.

"Honestly I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Can I just ask," Howard paused as they reached the doors to the gym, "what we're doing here… Is it… Are we… Important?" Rose softened her gaze at him.

"I can assure you, the name Stark is remembered." _Mainly because of Tony, though,_ she added in her head. "Look, we can talk science later, right now I need to have a chat with our favourite Sergeant about gossiping."

Howard raised his eyebrows, but nodded his assent. "Come find me in the lab later."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and ducked his head as he walked away. For a moment Rose was struck at just how much of Tony she could see in him. Their mannerisms were uncanny, as was the way they styled their hair, and - despite Howard obviously dressing in the forties - their taste in suits. _Although Pepper probably gets most of Tony's suits for him._ With that thought in mind, Rose pushed open the door of the gym, the two occupants of which froze when the door opened but relaxed when they saw it was her. She took in the scene of several dummies lying in pieces and various dents on the wall behind - one of which had Steve's shield sticking it of it. She looked from that to a very sheepish Steve and Bucky, who - given the damage they had caused to the gym - were obviously worried that Rose would be Peggy or the Colonel.

"As you were," Rose said, feeling awkward at the eyes on her. She made her way back to her previously discarded book on the floor, picking it up and tucking it under her arm. She leant back against the wall, watching Steve practice various maneuvers while Bucky made suggestions and minor adjustments to his throwing technique. All the while, they messed around and bantered like any best friends would. Rose enjoyed seeing them like this, while it drove home how much they were still just boys and barely three years older than herself. They stopped after a few minutes when they noticed she was watching them, sharing a look before approaching her.

"So," Steve began, "what did Colonel Phillips want?"

"Oh, like you don't know," Rose snapped at him, "and you!" She rounded on Bucky, "Do you tell them everything I say to you? What the fuck, man?"

"So, it's true then?" Steve asked with wide-eyed amazement.

"Yeah," Rose sighed, "it's true."

"So what does that make us then?"

"Heroes." Bucky's eyes snapped up at Rose's one worded response, recalling her words the previous day about heroes - that he shouldn't want to be one in this world. She met his eyes, shaking her head ever so slightly as if to say _not now_ , making a mental note to have a chat with him one on one later.

"But we're… what? Stories to you?" Steve continued questioning.

"You have, like, comic books, right? Is Superman a thing here?" Rose asked in response, she was pretty sure that the Superman comics came out, as well as Captain America, around this era in her world.

"Yes, I've seen them." Rose grinned when Bucky answered. The existence of comic books would make it a hell of a lot easier for her explain. She also appreciated the irony of DC comics existing in the Marvel universe.

"Right, imagine you wake up and you're suddenly next to Clark Kent. That was me in that Hydra factory. But also from, like, another seventy or so years in the future, so I, like, know what's going to happen." Rose thought for a moment. "No, I know what's _supposed_ to happen. Me being here has to have changed some shit already. There are one or two things I think _should_ be changed, anyway." Steve took in her explanation, staring at the ground as he mulled it over.

"So…" he said slowly, "what you're saying is, I'm Superman?" Rose nearly snorted.

"Um, no. Not exactly. You're exactly at 'leaping tall buildings in a single bound' level." She pointed out. He huffed as if slightly disappointed, while Rose caught Bucky letting out the subtlest sigh of relief.

"But if you know how things happen, you can help us win the war, right?" Steve asked hopefully. Images from the Marvel movies flashed across Rose's mind; Steve crashing the plane into the Arctic, aliens pouring from the sky in New York, the moment that the true face of the Winter Soldier is revealed from beneath the mask, Steve laughing with his team in Avengers Tower, Sokovia falling from the sky, Bucky with Steve on the quinjet on the way to Syberia, Steve fighting off Thanos with his bare hands, Bucky turning to dust…

How many wars did they have to fight?

How many could she stop?

"I'll try my best, Steve," Rose assured him. Steve sucked in a breath and nodded gravely, seeming to understand the gravity behind her words as they locked eyes. _Fuck it, I'm going to save Bucky_ , she thought glancing away from Steve to look at the other man. Bucky was watching their interaction with concern evident on his face. He never wanted himself, let alone Steve, anywhere the war. Rose had told him before they left the camp that they would not live but survive, and he was beginning understand the connotations of that statement. "Should you, uh, get back to practicing?" Rose asked, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen over the trio.

"Yeah," Steve shook himself from his thoughts, "we were actually about to practice some hand to hand with the shield. You staying?"

Rose nodded. "I'm not allowed anywhere outside my room without an escort, so I'm here until you're done," she informed them.

Steve went to dig his shield out of the wall it was currently protruding from and Bucky moved to follow.

"Bucky?" Rose said quietly, getting his attention before he was too far away to hear her.

"Yeah?" He turned back to face her.

"Go for his legs."

"Why?" Bucky looked at her confused, only for her to grin at him.

"Because his shield is ze size of a dinner plate," she laughed, putting on a terrible fake German accent, "and he's an idiot." Bucky cracked a smile at her, despite not understanding the reference that she was laughing at. He turned back to Steve, who was now waiting on the sparring mats. Rose sunk to the floor as he walked away and opened her book, still grinning to herself. "Literally everyone knows to go for the legs, even Spidey Boy." She looked up when a _thud_ sounded from the mats in front of her followed by a 'hey!' from Steve. She burst out laughing when she saw Steve sprawled on the ground where Bucky had obviously tackled him to the ground and was now standing over him.

"You left your legs wide open, pal."

 **Thank you to all who have followed and faved this so far! And a special thank you to all who have reviewed! Please keep them coming, encouragement is always good :)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Little bit of a shorter chapter here. I really struggled with this one because I know where I want this to go, it's juts getting there. So cheers to my Beta who is so so helpful! Happy reading!**

Rose spent the remainder of the week in the lab with Howard. Information had begun to come in on the whereabouts of the Hydra bases, so the Commandos were in mission planning mode - led by Peggy, of course. Rose was slowly getting to know her better, making a habit of getting up early in order to have breakfast with her. Peggy seemed to be not too phased by Rose's origins, taking it in stride and barely hiding her curiosity. The fact that Peggy was just 23, only a year older than Rose, was beginning to show as her walls came down and she didn't feel like she had to be quite so professional with Rose all the time.

Rose's time in the labs with Howard was spent answering various questions and deflecting others that she deemed too dangerous or complicated to answer. She mainly ended up telling him about her own world, and what the 2000s were like there. He was surprised that despite the technology advances, what was happening in _this_ world in the 1940s was considered science fiction.

"You mean to tell me that in your world they put a man on the moon in the sixties, but can't figure out how to get further than that?" Howard was puzzling out after Rose told him about the moon landing.

"As far as I know, it's the same here. Except, in this universe, there _is_ intelligent life out there," Rose gestured vaguely from where she was spinning around on Howard's desk chair while he worked standing, "which does kinda help that tech along."

"What do you mean 'out there'?" He paused his work to look at her.

"Well the Tesseract that helped bring me here is obviously alien, so I thought you'd have figured out by now that aliens exist." Howard gaped at her.

"You mean… like War of the Worlds?"

"Oh god, no! There's no Martians." Rose was thought of the Chitauri and the battle of New York. "By the time malicious aliens do make it to Earth, there are plenty of people equipped to defend and avenge it."

Howard snorted. "That sounds mildly threatening."

"You have no idea," Rose muttered, eyes glazing over as she thought about Infinity War. Rose's eyes widened at a sudden realisation. "I gotta go to my room, like now. Don't know how long I'll be, don't wait up!" She jumped out of the chair and ran from the lab.

"You're supposed to have an escort!" Howard called after her, then shrugged. "Eh, she'll be fine."

* * *

Rose hurried up to her room, quickly locking her door behind her when she arrived. She paced a few times, nerves getting the better of her, before heading to the window. The small sofa sat underneath, so she knelt on that to lean against the window frame. She scanned the late afternoon sky which was dark with rain clouds.

"Heimdall?" She whispered. Nothing happened. "Heimdall, I don't even know if you can see me, but I promise I'm not bad, so if you can hear me please show me somehow." Rose knelt looking at the sky for a few minutes longer and was about to give up when a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the sky. A booming rumble of thunder swiftly followed and Rose grinned. "Hey Heimdall. Listen, I'm from another universe, don't freak out! You don't need to alert Odin or whatever. I just needed to reassure myself that you're out there, I guess." Lightning flashed again. "I hope we'll meet one day." A low rumble of thunder. Rose smiled softly as rain began to fall. She turned away from the window to sit on the sofa with her legs tucked up and looked over to her small desk. There was several notebooks scattered across it, the one on top open to where Rose had begun to make bullet points of what she could tell Colonel Phillips and what she hoped to change. The biggest thing bugging her was how to save Bucky. Part of her hoped that she could prove herself able enough to convince Phillips to let her go on the train mission when it eventually came up.

Rose shook her head to clear it. In order to convince Phillips of anything she'd first need to show him reliable intel. Prove she not only knew what she was talking about, but how big of an asset she could be to him and the newly formed Howling Commandos. She stood up from the couch and stretched before moving to sit down at her desk. Picking up her pen, she began writing what she could remember from Captain America: The First Avenger.

* * *

An hour later Rose put the pen down. She'd managed a couple more bullet points but no matter how hard she tried to focus on the missions, her mind kept going back to Bucky. After what she'd told him about not wanting to be a hero, she'd really made the wrong call by going and comparing Steve 'Get Killed, Walk it Off' Rogers to _Superman_ in front of him. She may have only met him a little over a week ago, but after eight years of watching him in the movies and reading about him, she sure as hell _knew_ him. And right now she probably needed to check in on him. She sighed as she stood up and carefully went to tuck her now fuller notebook under the pillow on her bed, hoping to keep it away from any prying eyes. She opened her door and stuck her head out before exiting her room fully. She really didn't want to get caught by Peggy or the Colonel without an escort. Confident that the hallway was clear, she made her way to elevator and up to the room which she was pretty sure was Bucky's.

Rose took a deep breath before knocking tentatively on the door. She cringed as she waited, hoping she hadn't disturbed the room's occupant from anything too important. There was muffled movement from inside before the door swung open rather suddenly. Bucky stood before Rose, clearly fresh from a shower, his hair still dripping onto his standard issue white t-shirt.

"Hi," he said when he saw Rose. She said nothing, words refusing to form in her head as she was caught off guard by his appearance. "Can I help you..?" He prompted.

"We need to talk." Rose mentally shook herself, remembering the reason she had sought Bucky out in the first place. "Can I come in?" She asked nervously. Bucky moved aside, letting her into his room. It was set up much the same as Rose's was - Rose was even impressed to see some books on the shelf and one open on the desk that he had obviously been reading. Bucky closed the door behind her and perched himself on the end of the bed, waiting for her to speak. Rose paced a few times before turning to face him, unable to meet his eyes.

"Ok, so I'm gonna forgive you for ratting me out to Phillips, but only 'cause I totally got the vibe that you didn't like me telling Steve that he's basically Superman." The words tumbled out of Rose's mouth as soon she started speaking. "I mean, it's not like he can actually _fly_ , maybe a different Captain can fly but that's not relevant yet-"

"Rose."

"-she's definitely more of a Superman character though, apart from the whole planet dying thing. Tony is essentially Batman, but less broody-"

"Rose."

"-more sassy than anything. God, I can't believe how much like Howard he actually is-"

" _Rose!_ " Bucky finally got Rose to stop her rambling and look at him. "It's ok."

"It is?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah," he sighed, "Steve was never going to stop trying to be a hero." He chuckled softly. "This does kind of make me miss the days when I had to save him from getting beat up in back alleys, though."

"It's not that being a hero is bad," Rose tried to reassure him, "it's just… hard. Really fucking hard."

"I'll watch his back, you can count on that."

"I know you will." Rose looked out the window, her gaze far away. "Until the end of the line." Bucky leaned forward, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Is that line really that famous?" he asked incredulously.

"Mate, some die-hard fans have that line tattooed on." Rose laughed at his shocked expression. "So, yeah, pretty famous."

"I know men who got tattoos for their ranks and such, but that seems a little… extreme."

"What's wrong with tattoos?" Rose asked defensively. "I've got one."

" _What?_ "

"Yeah…" Rose rolled up the hem of her trousers to reveal the little dragon on her ankle. Bucky gaped at it. "It's Smaug!" She announced proudly. "The dragon in the book I'm reading, this is copied from the author's drawing." She explained when she realised that the name 'Smaug' would mean nothing to Bucky. "I've also got a big ass rose on my back, because why not, but that would be a little more difficult to show you." Bucky was utterly speechless. "What?"

"Isn't that… Didn't it… Don't they _hurt_ to get?" He questioned.

"Ooooh yes, like a motherfucker." Rose grinned.

"You're something else, Hammond." Bucky shook his head at her, standing and walking over to the window. He stared out into the street below. "We're leaving tomorrow."

"Sorry?" Rose wasn't sure she heard him right.

"They found the first Hydra base. We move out first thing tomorrow to take it out." Bucky shoved his hands into his pockets and Rose moved to stand beside him.

"It'll be fine." She assured him. He let out a shaky breath and looked up at her through his eyelashes. Rose paused, realising how nervous he actually was. This wasn't cinema, this wasn't acting, this was a young man scared to go back to the war he had hoped to escape. "Hey," she reached for his arm, "you'll be ok." He covered her hand with one of his own and tilted his chin up cockily, as Rose had seen so many times before in the movies and now person. To anyone who didn't know better, Bucky exuded confidence, but Rose saw past the mask. It might have been thanks to the countless pieces of character analysis on the internet but that was irrelevant. She released a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding when Bucky cleared his throat and straightened, shoving the hand that had been holding hers back into his pocket.

"The real question is," he began, changing the subject, "do you dance?" Rose gave him an 'are you serious' look before answering.

"Yes. Dancing has changed a bit since the forties though. Why do you ask?" If he was getting at what Rose thought he was, then she was going to make him work for it.

"Well," he absently reached up to scratch the back of his neck, "there's a dance hall not far from here…"

"Yeah, so?" she raised her eyebrows at him

"Well, you see, I was thinking-" he was cut off when Rose gasped loudly.

"Oh my god!"

"What?"

"I have to make Steve take Peggy!"

"I mean, yeah…"

"No, no, no, no, no, you don't understand! They have to have at least one dance before the war is over. It'll never happen otherwise! Dude, you gotta bug Steve to ask her when you're away and I'll make sure she says yes-"

"I was kinda hoping to take you…" Bucky muttered as Rose rambled on. She stopped talking abruptly when she realised what he had said.

"You want to take…?" She pointed to herself lamely, staring open mouthed at Bucky. He chuckled awkwardly, not used to having to ask in such a roundabout way.

"Yeah."

Rose was about to answer when there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, Buck! Quit napping, we still got some last minute planning for the mission." Steve's voice called from the other side of the door. Bucky sighed.

"Duty calls."

"Yeah. I should probably get back to Howard anyway, I kind of left without asking earlier." Rose admitted.

"Aren't you supposed to have an escort?"

"Yeah," she shrugged, "it isn't exactly being enforced."

"Looks like we both best head downstairs then." Bucky opened his door, which Steve was waiting outside of. He was slightly affronted to see Rose in Bucky's room. Rose just crossed her arms challengingly at him, daring him to make a comment about it. Bucky looked between the two and rolled his eyes.

"It's not what you think, Steve." He sighed, then gestured for Rose to follow him out of the room. "C'mon, Slugger."

"Excuse me?" Rose started at the nickname.

"What? You got a hell of a right hook." Rose huffed but she couldn't really argue with that - especially if it was his way of complimenting her punching earlier in the week. Steve watched the interaction curiously before leading them down the hallway, silently wondering when his best friend had become so familiar with the otherworldly girl.

 **Thanks for reading! Shout out to PistolHattersButtercup, thank you so much for your reviews and encouragement! It's super motivating to know people enjoy this! Please please please leave a review if you can! Encouragement is always good haha. Also follow and fave please!**


	12. Chapter 11

**New Chapter, enjoy!**

The weekend began with the departure of the Commandos on their first mission. Rose stuck to the fringes of the room as she watched the final briefing before they moved out. The mood of the group was quite sombre as every detail of the plan was gone over. Rose tried to follow along but in all honesty she didn't understand majority of the tactics or technical terms. She watched as Steve and Peggy exchanged an awkward 'goodbye and goodluck', with Steve stumbling over his words.

"... I mean, obviously you don't need luck - you're not coming on the mission." Peggy raised a challenging eyebrow at him. "Not that you won't be doing important work here! You just don't need luck to get it done." Peggy rolled her eyes and exited the briefing room. Steve visibly cringed behind her before his expression turned serious and he turned into Captain America. He nodded briefly to Rose before following after Peggy. The other Commandos filled out after him to head up to the truck that would take them to the airfield. Bucky was the last to leave and Rose almost thought he was going to ignore her when he got halfway out the door before turning back to her.

"You know, you never answered my question." He stated, crossing his arms and leaning on the door frame.

"What question is that?" Rose asked, mirroring his posture.

"About going dancing…?" He prompted. Rose looked down and laughed to cover her awkwardness.

"I don't think you got around to the actual asking part."

"Well, I'm asking now."

"Asking what?" She feigned innocence. Bucky let out an exasperated sigh.

"Rose-"

"Yes?" She cut him off and grinned at how she was annoying him. He sighed again.

"Do you wanna go dancing with me or not?"

"Tell you what," Rose stepped forward into his personal space. Bucky sucked in a breath at her closeness. "Come back in one piece, and then I'll _consider_ it."

"That's good enough for me." He muttered, reaching up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Catch you later, slugger." He grinned at her, breaking the moment, and turned to follow the rest of his team out.

"Good luck." Rose whispered, but he was already gone.

* * *

Later that day, Rose was walking down the London high street with Peggy. Rose wasn't really sure what expect from a 'girls day out' with Peggy, however it had so far consisted of Peggy dragging her via bus to the iconic London landmarks. Rose loved London - despite growing up in New Zealand, her parents and grandparents were British, and her grandparents were London natives. She had visited with her parents just before the 2012 Olympics and then again in 2015 for a cousins' wedding. She told all this to Peggy as she was shown around the city, from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. Peggy was fascinated by Rose's modern life, often asking questions and getting Rose to explain particular aspects in more detail. The pair were staring upward at Big Ben when Rose nodded at a space across the Thames.

"One day they're gonna build a huge ass ferris wheel over there and call it the London Eye."

"Really?" Peggy studied the empty space in the skyline, intrigued.

"Yeah." Rose shivered against the late November breeze, pulling her borrowed coat tighter around her. Peggy glanced at her sidelong.

"Come on," she said, pulling on Rose's arm, "let me show you one last landmark."

Another bus ride later, Rose stopped short as Peggy strode confidently into the large building before them.

"Selfridges?!" Rose exclaimed.

"Yes," Peggy answered, unfazed, "what of it?"

"It's, like, I don't know, fancy and expensive?" Rose walked forward hesitantly to where Peggy was standing by the entrance.

"Oh, don't fret!" Peggy looped her arm through Rose's. "It's all going on Howard's tab." She pulled Rose through the door. "He insisted." She added when she saw Rose's raised eyebrows.

"Well in that case…" Rose laughed, taking in the immaculate department store

After a quick conversation with a store clerk, Peggy had the Rose swept off into a fitting room, with various assistants fussing over what fashion she liked and what colours suited her and so on.

"Anything for a friend of Mr Stark," they said.

For the first half hour, Rose enjoyed the attention - it was like playing dress up. After a little while though, she began to get annoyed with the constant questions, fussing, and remeasuring. She dismissed the assistants once they had fitted her into a dark blue pant suit which left her feeling like a 2018 #girlboss. Peggy had disappeared over the course of her fittings but Rose found her just outside the fitting room.

"Please tell me you weren't standing there the whole time, waiting." Rose groaned.

"Oh no, I had something to pick up for myself, actually." Peggy held up a small gold lipstick tube with '102 Sweet Dreams' engraved onto the side. Rose smirked, recognising it as the deadly lipstick from the Agent Carter TV series.

"Oh yeah, that's definitely your colour." She winked. Peggy stared at her for a moment, stunned, then rolled her eyes.

"I should have known. You know exactly what this does, don't you?"

"Well…" Rose trailed off, then shook her head and grinned. "I don't know why I'm trying to act coy - of course I know, Peggy."

"In that case, I'm glad to have your approval." Peggy returned Rose's smile. The two women prepared to leave, Peggy making sure all purchases were charged to Howard's tab. She arranged for the clothes they picked out to be delivered in the correct measurements the following week. They were just about to leave when Rose spotted something familiar sitting on a mannequin.

"Peggy!" She called. Peggy looked over from where she still standing by the counter. "You _need_ this!" Peggy walked over to Rose, humouring her. Rose held out a bright red women's fedora, practically bouncing on her heels in excitement. Peggy gave Rose a look as she took the hat, regarding it carefully before placing it on her head and tilting it fashionably. She looked at Rose as if to say 'what do you think?'

"Iconic. As. Fuck." She praised. Peggy hid her smile as she took the hat off and took it up to the counter where the store clerk was waiting patiently.

"Yes, I'll take this as well, thank you." She said, placing it on the counter to be wrapped up.

After their shopping was done, Rose and Peggy walked leisurely back to headquarters.

"So," Peggy began, "what's going on with you and the Sergeant?"

"What's going on with you and Steve?" Rose countered.

"I asked you first." Peggy responded. Rose laughed at how childish she sounded trying to avoid the question.

"So there is something between you and Steve!"

"That's not what I said-"

"You should go dancing with-"

" _You_ should go with Sergeant-"

"Only if you go with-

"Ok! Ok, fine," Peggy conceded, "only if you get him to ask, though. I might be an independent women, but I do appreciate some chivalry every now and then."

"Consider it done." Rose grinned conspiratorially, already knowing she would easily get Bucky on board. She knew he had regularly set Steve up on less than successful double dates before the war, and would probably jump at the chance to set him up with someone more appreciative of him. The pair came to a stop as they arrived outside headquarters.

"I'm going to regret this." Peggy muttered, looking up at the building.

"Peggy," Rose said softly, "this is war. You'll only regret the chances you don't take while you can. Trust me."

"Well that was mildly ominous." Peggy commented.

"Don't wanna give too much away. You all still have important parts to play before this war is over."

"And you don't?"

"Girl, I'm not even supposed to be here." Rose chuckled.

"Clearly you are," Peggy pointed out, "or you wouldn't be here at all." Rose opened her mouth to reply but closed it, furrowing her brow when she couldn't think of an argument. "Come on," Peggy smiled, leading the way inside, "let's go and make sure Howard hasn't blown himself up while we've been gone - he really does need a more permanent assistant."

"I can't fucking wait for you to meet Edwin Jarvis." Rose mumbled as she followed Peggy.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

* * *

The Howling Commandos were gone for nearly two weeks. Two long weeks that - despite knowing that they'd be fine - Rose spent on edge. Peggy distracted her when their parcels from Selfridges arrived, suggesting that they spend the afternoon trying everything on. They were interrupted by Howard, who made no effort to hide his appraising looks, and who insisted that they needed an occasion to wear their new attire. This resulted in an evening out, which ended in far too much whiskey and a very unimpressed Colonel Phillips the next day when they were more than a little hungover. It was, however, an excellent bonding experience. Rose was pleased to see Peggy and Howard interact outside of a military environment. It was obvious that the pair had become close friends in their work together and Rose was confident in her knowledge of Agent Carter that the friendship would continue.

Rose had also passed on her list to Phillips of everything she could remember that she thought would be helpful. It mainly consisted of key words and a few names, but Rose promised to expand on any of them, should the need arise.

"... Zodiac, and Leviathan?" The Colonel raised an eyebrow at Rose as he read through the list.

"My understanding is that they become more of a threat after the war, but still a good idea to keep an eye out earlier." Rose explained.

It was a sunny winter afternoon when the Commandos returned. Rose didn't realise straight away - she had taken to sitting up on the roof on nice days with a book and notebook. She headed inside when the early evening light became too dim for her to read her books without straining her eyes. She made her way to the Mess Hall, and immediately noticed it was rowdier than it had been since the Commandos had left. They were sitting in the center of the room when she entered, Dum Dum Dugan dramatically regaling the tale of their 'daring mission'. Steve and Bucky sat to the side, quieter than the rest of the team, clearly a little battle weary. Bucky looked up and met Rose's eyes from across the room and she suddenly felt very self conscious. She grabbed a tray of food and made her way over to their table.

"Hey," she squeaked out as she sat down.

"Hey, slugger," Bucky yawned. Rose frowned but decided to ignore the annoying nickname.

"How was it?" She asked cautiously.

"It went exactly as planned," Steve answered.

"I feel like there's a 'but' in there." Rose said. The two men exchanged a glance.

"It's war, Rose. 'Exactly as planned' is the best we can hope for." Steve said.

"Looks like you could do with a night off…" Rose wanted to get Steve to ask Peggy out sooner rather than later, so she decided to waste no time in angling for it.

"We got tomorrow to recover, then we're heading back out." Bucky sighed.

"Oh man, that… Sucks. Yikes. That's literally, like, no time off." Rose wasn't expecting the missions to have such a quick turn around. Bucky shifted slightly, glancing at Steve.

"Well I think I'm going to turn in," Steve announced, standing. "See you guys tomorrow."

"G'night, Cap," Rose called as she watched him leave. She sat in silence with Bucky as the rest of the team slowly turned in as well.

"Aren't you tired?" She asked when it was finally just herself and Bucky sitting in the Mess Hall. Bucky didn't answer immediately, making Rose unsure if he'd actually heard her.

"I don't think I could sleep if I tried right now, to be honest." He admitted finally.

"Read this," Rose handed her the copy of the Hobbit she had piled on top of her notebook beside her food tray. "I always find reading before sleeping is quite relaxing."

"Thanks," Bucky flicked through the first few pages, but his gaze strayed to the notebook. "What's in this?"

"It's, uh," Rose hesitated, hoping he wouldn't want to look inside, "It's just some writing. Quotes and song lyrics and stuff from my world. I like writing shit like that." She explained, hoping it didn't sound too weird. "No, you can't look in it." She added when he reached for the notebook. Rose laughed when he pouted at her.

"Can you tell me your favourite quote then? Or read my some lyrics?" Bucky asked innocently.

"Ok, I guess…" She flicked through the pages before settling on something. "Ok, so the book here, the Hobbit? In, like, another ten years, the author is gonna release some more books called The Lord of the Rings. This is my favourite poem from those book." Rose cleared her throat, "All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king."

"Wow," Bucky leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand as he looked across the table at Rose.

"It's cool, right?" Rose grinned, her fangirl coming out. "'Cause, it's about this guy who's supposed to be in line for the throne but his bloodline was shamed, so he was kind of in exile. But he came back to reclaim the throne and then they reforged his ancestor's broken sword for him, and infused it with power and magic, and gah! It's just so cool!" Bucky smiled at her rambling. "Sorry," she said, stumbling to a halt.

"You know, you're kind of cute when you get all excited about something." Rose laughed nervously at Bucky's comment, not really sure how to respond.

"So you're heading out again, day after tomorrow?" She changed the subject.

"Yeah," Bucky leaned back, "guess I'm gonna need to take a rain-check on that dance." Rose gaped at him as he unknowingly said some of Steve's heartbreaking last words to Peggy. "Who knows," he continued, "maybe we'll be home for Christmas." He smiled cheerfully at the thought. Rose knew it was now late November, but she hadn't even taken something like Christmas into consideration.

"Should I get you a present?" She teased.

"Just find me under the mistletoe." He winked.

Rose choked, not expecting a response like that. "You'd be lucky," she quipped, regaining her composure.

"Yes, I would," Bucky replied, smirking.

"You're impossible," she shook her head at him. They were silent for a little while, lost in their own thoughts but enjoying the others company.

"This next mission…" Rose began suddenly.

"What about it?" Bucky asked, concerned she might know something important.

"Just… Come back, ok?" Rose was worried about something, he could tell that much. So he smiled at her in the same reassuring confident way he had smiled at Steve before deployment.

"Sure thing, slugger."

 **Thanks to everyone who reviews! Please fave, follow, and review if you can! ILY!**


	13. Chapter 12

**New chapter! If anyone has a chance, go and check out the oneshot by my real life BFF Childhoodgames - _Homecoming_. It's set in the aftermath of Infinity War when Tony comes back to Earth and omg FEELS. It's SO good though! **

**Also, I've decided the theme song for Rose's story in the MCU is Heroes (We Could Be) by Alesso.**

* * *

Rose didn't see any of the Commandos before they shipped out again. This time they were away for nearly a month, and Rose fell into a routine to keep her anxiety at bay. Breakfast with Peggy was followed by time in the lab with Howard, learning whatever she could. Rose then met Colonel Phillips at some point in the afternoon, recalling as many useful details as she could remember to help the fight against Hydra. Any time after that, she spent in the gym, beating countless sandbags into submission. The more Rose exerted herself, the more apparent her increase in strength and stamina became. The Ancient One's spell had quite a significant effect. The exercise also helped to take the edge off of not knowing how the Commandos were faring, and how Bucky and Steve were doing.

Rose often found herself thinking about the two men who were so important to the history of the MCU. Despite his being away on mission for most of the time that she had actually known him, Rose was fairly confident that she could now call Steve a friend. He wasn't exactly difficult to get along with, and she marvelled at how he bantered with Howard when at headquarters - given his lack of patience for Tony's quips. _But by the time he meets Tony, he's been out of the ice for two weeks tops_ , Rose reminded herself, _that can't leave him in the best headspace for dealing with that._ Rose hoped that if she was to be in 2012 herself when the Avengers came together, she could help him adjust, and retain some of his youth. A lot of people forgot that mentally, Steve was only around thirty by the time Infinity War came around, and Rose intended to help him enjoy what remained of his twenties. She was pretty sure she'd be able to get Natasha Romanoff to help with that, especially seeing as the Black Widow kept trying to get him a date in the Winter Soldier.

If Rose had her way, she wouldn't be seeing Bucky in the future. The more she thought about it, the more she was adamant that she could save him from becoming the Winter Soldier. She just had to get herself on the train mission to capture Zola, stop him from falling, then expose Pierce and Hydra herself in the future. She avoided saying any of this out loud, not wanting to draw the attention of the Ancient One to the fact that she planned on changing things. It was also in the back of her mind that didn't want to break time and have a Doctor Who scenario on her hands.

Rose was trying and failing at convincing herself that didn't have a crush on Bucky. He didn't make it easy, what with the comment about meeting her under the mistletoe should he be back in time for Christmas. She was sure that it was partly due to the attraction she already had towards his actor, Sebastian Stan, but she got along well with Bucky, regardless.

Christmas came and went without much fanfare, there was no word as of yet about when they could expect the Commandos to return. Peggy noticed Rose's cabin fever and offered to spar with her, even teaching her a few moves. Rose appreciated the distraction, Howard was at the SSR lab less and less frequently the longer the Howling Commandos were away. Rose began to lose patience with him as well, when the few times she met him at the pub for a casual drink, he had some new girl on his arm and put on a show that Rose knew was as fake as he could get. She guessed it was how he dealt with stress, but it was frustrating nevertheless.

It was New Year's Eve when the Commandos finally returned. Rose was sitting in Howards lab, writing in her notebook. Howard and Peggy were a little way off, working on something that Rose didn't really understand. So she tucked herself into a corner and decided to see how many Taylor Swift lyrics she could remember out of sheer boredom. It was getting late when the Commandos burst loudly into the lab, discarding weapons onto an empty bench. Peggy marched straight up to them.

"Welcome back, boys." She barely hid her smile.

"And happy new year!" Howard called from behind her, raising a glass. He was answered by a chorus of 'hear, hear!'.

"Not yet," Peggy said, looking at her watch, "It's not midnight for another ten minutes." Rose started slightly, not realising it had gotten so late. "How was the mission?" Peggy asked Steve, who looked _very_ happy to be back at headquarters.

"It, uh, it was fine, just had a couple of snags…" He trailed off, glancing sheepishly at Bucky, who's frown was almost a pout.

"Snags? _Snags_ , Steve? Really?" Bucky glared at his friend.

"Uh oh," Rose muttered, putting her notebook down.  
"Well-"

"You know what I do, Agent Carter?" Bucky turned to Peggy, cutting Steve off, his tone clearly annoyed. "I'm a sniper. So what do I have to do? Stay hidden. What does Steve do when I save his ass? Turn around and _salute_ me." Bucky shook his head in exasperation.

"He gave away your position." Peggy concluded, folding her arms and looking at Steve, who was hanging his head like a kicked puppy. Rose stood up and walked over the the group. Before anyone could say anything in greeting to her, she went right to Steve and smacked him upside the head.

"Hey!" He complained.

"Idiot." She turned away from him and nearly tripped over the small drinks cart that Howard seemed to have produced out of nowhere.

"Grab a glass, everyone! We're toasting!" Howard announced, pouring a glass of some sort of liquor and passing it to Rose with a wink. The Commandos passed glasses around, filling them from the couple of bottle that were also passed around.

"Got any new year traditions where you're from, Rose?" Dugan asked.

"I mean, there's the kiss at midnight, but that doesn't usually happen to me." Rose answered shyly, avoiding looking at Bucky.

"That's a tradition here too, darling," Dugan laughed.

"I wasn't sure when the tradition started." She shrugged.

"Well this might be your lucky year," Peggy said, appearing at her side with her own drink and looking pointedly at Bucky.

"Fuck sake, is it midnight yet? I need a drink…" Rose muttered.

"Actually yes!" Dugan called enthusiastically, looking at his watch. "Ten seconds… Nine… Eight…" Everyone joined in on the countdown. Rose finally looked at Bucky, who was watching her with a small smile. His tilted his chin up at her in a _come here_ gesture.

"Five… Four…" She began to make her way over to him as the countdown continued, butterflies in her stomach. _Is he gonna kiss me?_

"Two… One! Happy New Year!" Rose was only two steps away from Bucky when everyone erupted into cheers to ring in the new year. As she made the final step, a hand grabbed her elbow and spun her around. Before she could react, Howard pulled her to him and kissed her roughly on the mouth. For a moment she was too stunned to react. Once she had recovered herself, she pushed him away, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Happy Ne-oof?!" Rose cut him off with a sharp slap.

"What the fuck, Howard!" She yelled. Around them the Commandos fell silent.

"There's a reason Sarge calls her 'slugger', Stark." Dugan broke the silence. Peggy suddenly burst out laughing at the look on Howard's face as he rubbed his cheek, and was quickly joined by everyone else. It died down quickly, everyone going back to chatting amongst themselves and enjoying their drinks. Rose turned away from Howard and strode out out of the lab, muttering something about being 'so done right now.'

"I'm gonna make sure she's ok," Bucky said, glaring at Howard and following Rose from the room

"Ten bucks says I just made Barnes jealous and now they're both gonna get the New Year's kiss they want." Howard bet to Peggy and Steve. He winced as he held a glass of ice and alcohol against his stinging face.

"I don't think-"

"Deal." Steve looked at Peggy, shocked as she cut him off. She simply winked at him, rendering him speechless.

* * *

Rose walked out of headquarters onto the street with no destination in mind - annoyance at Howard and the need to get away from the increasingly stuffy lab having gotten the better of her. She headed down the street which was eerily quiet considering it was New Year. The night air was chilly, making her walk at a brisk pace to warm herself up. After a few blocks she found herself on the fringes of Hyde Park, a dark reprieve from the bright streetlights of the city.

"I'm not gonna be happy if I get murdered," Rose mumbled, walking into the large park. Unbeknownst to her, Bucky was only about fifty meters behind her, becoming increasingly worried as she disappeared in the dark.

Rose was used to walking through the dark - in her home world, the quickest route home from work was to walk through a park with no lights. It was creepy, that was true, but she felt safe enough to wear headphones and blast music. That path, however, was still close to houses, or - as Rose liked to put it - in screaming distance should she encounter any… _unsavoury_ characters. The middle of Hyde Park was not in screaming distance. Rose became uncomfortably aware of this when she began passing various homeless people. Some were asleep on benches, some were warming themselves around a fires lit in metal drums, but all of them were eyeing her in a way she really didn't like. One particular group called out to her, making her quicken her pace even more. She rounded a corner and broke into a run, blindly following paths trying to get away from the people. She stopped at an intersection in the path, bracing her hands on her knees, the cold night air stinging her lungs. When Rose looked up, she realised that she had gotten herself hopelessly lost in the dark. She struggled to stop the breathlessness from running from turning into hyperventilating as she began to panic.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Rose swore under her breath, hearing heavy footsteps running behind her. She wasn't fast enough to move out of the middle of the crossroads before the owner of the footsteps came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. Acting on instinct, Rose twisted out of the grip and punched the person square in the nose.

"Damn! Geez, Rose, it's only me!" Rose stared wide-eyed at Bucky, who was holding his hands over his face, his nose dripping no small amount of blood.

"I'm… Sorry? In my defense, you snuck up on me! Like, no! Don't do that, dude!" Rose pulled a small handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to Bucky, mentally thanking Peggy for insisting that she abide by the 1940s habit of always carrying one. Bucky rolled his eyes at her, taking the handkerchief.

"Why'd you leave, anyway?" Bucky winced as he dabbed at his bleeding nose. Rose wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

"It was getting a little crowded in the lab," she replied quietly. Bucky shrugged out of his blue mission jacket that he was still wearing and put it around Rose's shoulders to stop her shivering. She looked up at him questioningly, but was internally screaming that she was wearing his jacket. _The_ jacket!

"You looked cold." He shrugged.

"But won't you be cold?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm tough." His face fell into the lazy smirk that melted Rose's heart and put butterflies in her stomach. "C'mon, let's get back."

"I may or may not have gotten a little bit lost," Rose admitted. Bucky slung his arm around her shoulders and began taking her down the path that would presumably lead them back to headquarters. Rose tensed and nearly stopped breathing at the contact. She wasn't a huge fan of physical contact, but this was Bucky. And she _liked_ Bucky.

"You alright, Slug?" He asked, noticing the sudden tension in her shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm-" she paused for a moment, registering what he had said properly. "Oh, no, no, no. You are _not_ shortening 'Slugger' to _Slug_! The long version was bad enough!"

"Well, I like it," Bucky stated cheerfully. "How'd you get yourself lost?"

"'Not all those who wander are lost,'" Rose quoted.

"That's that poem you told me, right?" Bucky recalled, "I actually have that book - the Hobbit - to give back to you." He ducked his head and smiled shyly. "I, uh, I finished it while we were away." Rose looked at him, stunned and impressed.

"You finished it?"

"Yep. It was good."

"I think it has one of the most iconic opening lines!" Rose gushed, "Every time I read it, it feels like coming home."

"What was it again?" Bucky asked, encouraging her excitement. He tightened his arm around her shoulders affectionately, pulling her closer. Rose didn't notice how he was indulging her, just happy to see her happy.

"'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit," she recited easily. Bucky leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her temple, making her breath catch.

"It amazes me how you got these things memorized," he said lowly right next to her ear. She shivered, but not from cold this time. Rose didn't know how to respond, this was a little more than flirting. So she did what she always did; she just carried on talking as if nothing had happened.

"There are a few iconic opening line for books," she barreled on, "like Harry Potter! A true staple of my generation: 'Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Or Stephen King's Gunslinger: 'The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.' So simply, so elegant, but so, so good!" Rose was well aware of the fact that she was rambling but couldn't seem to stop. "And then there's- what?" She suddenly realised Bucky was laughing lightly beside her.

"Nothing, nothing…" He chuckled again, "I just don't think I've ever met someone so passionate about fiction." Rose smiled lightly at that.

"I feel like there's some irony in that, because I wouldn't be much use in this world if I wasn't obsessed with fictional worlds." A far away look came over her face. "I suppose my useless knowledge from my home isn't so useless after all." The pair slowed down as they approached headquarters, having exited the park a few minutes previously. Rose looked up at the building. "There's so much I wish I could tell you."

"Then tell me about your world," Bucky suggested, sliding his hand from across her shoulders and down to hold her hand.

"I guess I could," Rose yawned, "but maybe not tonight. I think I should probably sleep." She shrugged Bucky's jacket off of her shoulders and handed it back to him as they entered the building. Bucky still held on to her hand as she moved towards the elevator.

"At least let me walk you to your room," he insisted. Rose saw no reason to argue with that. They fell into a slightly awkward silence as they stood in the elevator, a sense of a weirdly tense anticipation filled the air between them.

" I was gonna ask…" Bucky began, trailing off as if waiting for Rose's approval to ask whatever he was going to ask.

"Yes?" She prompted cautiously.

"Howard wasn't exactly your first choice for a New Year's kiss, was he?" The elevator arrived at Rose's floor. They arrived in front of Rose's room before she answered.

"No. I mean, I did slap him for kissing me." She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. She thought it might be a little inappropriate to laugh at his pain. Bucky did, however, chuckle at the memory. He pulled the handkerchief that Rose had given him from his pocket.

"I'd give this back but, uh…" He gestured to the blood caked on it.

"Keep it," Rose laughed. Bucky shoved it back into his pocket, the lazy smirk appearing back on his face. "So, goodnight, I guess?" Rose wasn't really sure how to end the night. Truth be told, she didn't really want it to end. She unlocked her door one handed - Bucky still had a hold of the other one - and opened it. She was about to get him to release her hand and go inside when he tugged on it instead and pulled her close against his chest. His free hand brushed her hair away from her face and he slowly lowered his head. Rose stopped breathing altogether. Rose unconsciously stood up on her toes slightly to meet him in the middle and then they were kissing. Rose pulled away first, needing to catch her breath. She stared up at Bucky, not knowing what to say. He smiled affectionately at her and kissed her forehead before letting her go.

"G'night, Slug," he said.

Rose watched him go for a moment before all but collapsing into her room and closing the door behind her.

"Well," she said out loud, "that's it. I'm fucked."

 **Thank you so much to everyone who reviews! And all the favourites and follows! Shout out to Guest reviewer Chelsie, thanks so much, hope you enjoy the rest of the story!**


	14. Chapter 13

**New chapter! Sorry for the delay, I was really struggling with this one, but I think I'm happy with how it turned out!**

January was fairly uneventful for the SSR. Peggy was a ball of pent up energy with no new intelligence on the remaining Hydra bases - energy that she apparently had decided to use by teaching Rose everything she knew about espionage. From firing a gun to going undercover, Rose was Peggy's protegé. SInce their girls day out, the two women had become close. Peggy was happy to have another strong willed female around, and Rose reminded her that it was ok to occasionally drop the constant professionalism and act like the 23 year old that she was. Rose was just glad of the distraction. Although she regularly had dinner with Steve and Bucky in the Mess, she was more than a little disappointed when Bucky acted like New Year's Eve hadn't happened. _Typical fuckboy_ , Rose rolled her eyes internally when he seemed to be avoiding being alone with her.

It was during these mealtimes that Rose told them all about her home and family. She was starting to feel homesick as the excitement of being in the MCU had begun to wear off. Steve had noticed that Rose had grown quiet and reserved over a few days - a stark contrast to her normal demeanor - and simply asked about her family and friends back home as he would a homesick soldier. Rose brightened immensely as she talked about them, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, so Steve resolved to swap family stories with her each morning he was not on a mission to help keep her mind at ease. Bucky had obviously joined in, and as much as Rose enjoyed telling them of the shenanigans she got up to with her friends, she loved hearing about their childhood. It was something that was barely touched on in the films and Rose was utterly fascinated by it. Rose told them about the time her parents had taken herself and her brother to Disneyland Paris and at four years old she had insisted they ride the 'It's A Small World After All' ride a million times. In exchange, Steve told her about his love of drawing and how when he and his Ma had been a little strapped for cash, he had proudly managed to sell one of his drawings to help pay the bills. Rose told them - much to the men's shock and Rose's amusement - about the roommates she had left behind. The three boys, _her boys_ , that had taken Rose into their group with open arms when apartment-hunting and, despite the grief they gave each other, always had each other's backs and really made the house they lived in feel like home. Steve and Bucky couldn't quite get over the fact that a perfectly respectable young lady could live with three boys and there was no scandal or gossip. Bucky admitted that he had lived with two women, but he was pretty sure it didn't count in the same way when it was his mother and sister. This had somehow lead to the slightly uncomfortable conversation Rose now found herself in when Steve asked;

"So, you have a fella back home?"

Rose and Bucky choked on their breakfast at the same time is response. Bucky recovered quickly, suddenly becoming very interested in his oatmeal. Rose coughed a few times to properly clear her throat and stall answering immediately.

"Um, well, no. I had a boyfriend for a bit, but he was trash, so I left. Single pringle for over a year."

"Really? But any guy would be lucky to have you!" Steve gushed. Rose groaned, hearing the exact same words she had a million times before from her flatmates. "There's really been no one in over a year?" Rose narrowed her eyes at Steve and Bucky when she realised Steve was pressing for a specific answer. _Is he asking me this on Bucky's behalf or something? Bucky, who hasn't had a one on one conversation with me since he kissed me?_

"No one who stuck around long enough to count." Rose answered cooly, gaging their reaction. Steve was not a subtle person and it was painfully obvious that he was trying not to look at Bucky. Bucky, who looked mildly uncomfortable before mumbling a swift 'see you later' and promptly left the dining hall.

"He does like you, you know," Steve shook as head as he watched Bucky leave.

"If he can tell me that himself, I might believe it. He's barely spoken to me since New Year's." Rose sighed.

"What actually happened that night? He won't tell me."

"He walked me back to my room and…" Rose couldn't quite get herself to say it out loud.

"And what? Did you two…? You didn't…?!" Rose laughed at the scandalised look appearing on Steve's face.

"We didn't _fondue_ if that's what you're asking."

"Oh, man, did Howard tell you about that?" Steve asked, facepalming. Rose just smiled mischievously at him before frowning.

"Bucky kissed me," she admitted with a groan. Steve's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I knew it!" He grinned.

"Don't get all excited. In classic fuckboy fashion, he's basically ghosted me since."

"I… have no idea what that means."

"It _means_ that he thought he might like me, kissed me, changed his mind, and is now avoiding me all the time except for at breakfast then, he just sits there brooding and pouting while you, me, and Peggy talk." Steve actually had the nerve to laugh at Rose. "Don't laugh! This has happened to me too many times before."

"He got a little scared, that's for sure, but only of how much he actually likes you." Steve explained. "He's been out with plenty of girls, sure, but none that he properly started caring for - and certainly none that broke his nose and kissed him in the same night."

"Ah, shit, did I break it?" Rose wasn't sure exactly how hard she had hit him in the park.

"Yeah, you did. Peg was really proud." Steve chuckled. "Speaking of…" He nodded over Rose's shoulder. She turned in her seat to see Peggy approaching them with a determined look on her face.

"Captain," she greeted Steve formally before looking at Rose. "I need you to come with me. Quickly." Rose stood and followed her, sparing Steve a look over her shoulder.

* * *

"This is time sensitive, Rose, so I need to know if you're up for this." Peggy spoke as she led Rose to the bunker and her desk.

"Up for what? What's happening?" Rose's eyes widened at the file sitting on Peggy's desk.

"We have a mission," Peggy stated as if it was obvious, leaning against her desk with a hand on her hip.

"Alright, don't sass me _Agent Carter_."

"I'll take that as a yes."

The mission Peggy had brought Rose in on was to do with an illegal arms deal. Hydra had smuggled some of its weapons into London and was planning to sell them to Soviet and Nazi sleeper agents across the Allied countries. The SSR was still working on busting the deal in the States ("Jack Thompson and Daniel Souza on the case!" Rose cried enthusiastically, much to Peggy's confusion and Rose's amusement), and the London division had just received intel on the deal going down in their own city. It was to be in a private booth of a jazz club - the kind of place that Rose and Peggy would blend into easier than the likes on Steve and Bucky.

The two women spent the better part of the day preparing as the deal was to happen that night. The plan was simple; infiltrate the club, eavesdrop on the meeting to find out if the weapons themselves were actually in London, then kill or capture both parties. The last part was specifically Peggy's job. A small group of agents and soldiers would come through after the they were done to collect any bodies - alive or otherwise. Rose's job was to just to watch Peggy's back and warn her if anyone was approaching the booth once she was in. Howard provided them with various pieces of tech, including earpieces to communicate with each other over the course of the evening.

When it was time, Rose and Peggy walked confidently into the club looking nothing like themselves. Peggy had donned a blonde wig while Rose wore a dark wig that was styled into a forties do that she would never achieve with her shoulder length white hair. Both were dressed to the nines in glamorous cocktail dresses suited to the club. Rose made her way to her position near the bar where she could see pretty much everything happening in the club. Peggy disappeared seamlessly into the crowd to do what she did best.

"Peggy," Rose muttered, trying to attract attention to her talking, "under the stairs. There's a guarded curtain that some dodgy looking people just disappeared behind."

"I see it." Peggy responded. Rose saw her subtly make her way over and sweet talk the bouncer by the hidden booth to let her in. She was gone for nearly twenty minutes, during which time Rose had to fend off far too many men looking for a dance. Then the gunfire started. People were screaming and ducking, not knowing where it was coming from, then Peggy burst from the curtain - gun in hand. _Where the hell was she hiding that?_

"Time to go!" She yelled at Rose.

"Did you kill them?!" Rose yelled back as she jumped off her bar stool. The two ducked as an angry man followed after Peggy shooting at her. He was staggering, clearly wounded, making his shots just miss them.

"Not all of them." Peggy replied, exasperated. She had hoped that this one would bleed out from the bullet wound in his thigh before he got a chance to chase after them. The women paused as he fell to the floor, his wound finally catching up with him.

"Hail Hydra," he bit out, raising his gun one last time and firing a single shot. Time seemed to slow down as Rose realised this shot was not about miss Peggy but hit her square in the chest. She reacted on instinct, not even thinking about the consequences of what she did next. She jumped. She didn't even feel the bullet hit her, whether from shock or adrenaline she wasn't sure. She was vaguely aware of Peggy calling her name when she hit the floor, blood blooming from her abdomen. Peggy was at her side suddenly, cradling her head and putting pressure on the hole in her stomach.

"Why would you do that?" She asked gently for yelling loudly. "Help! Somebody!"

"You're more important than me." _Why is talking so hard right now?_ Rose tried to smile but it was suddenly too much effort. "Couldn't let you get shot. Too much more for you to do." She closed her eyes as the pain finally began to hit her.

"Stay with me, Rose!" Peggy cried desperately. "The other agents are nearly here to get us out, just hold on!" Rose tried to grasp on to the sound of her voice, but unconsciousness was beckoning. She heard the other agents arrive and Peggy start shouting orders to get them back to the infirmary at the SSR. _We're safe now,_ she thought, finally giving in to the darkness.

* * *

 _Come back._

Rose jolted awake with gasp at the sound of Bucky's voice. She was in the SSR infirmary… but at the same time she wasn't. She could see herself lying in one of the cots, hooked up to a drip, unconscious. Peggy, Howard, Steve, and even Colonel Phillips were standing by her bedside, a doctor standing on the other giving a rundown of her condition. Bucky was sitting, both hands holding one of hers. He was wreck, as if he hadn't slept in a few days. Rose didn't understand most of the medical jargon that the doctor was using, but she managed to understand this: She had been shot almost point blank in the stomach, it had missed any major organs but it had required a surgery. Now, there was nothing to be done but leave her to heal and pray to God that she woke up.

"I thought I told you not to be reckless." Rose turned from viewing herself to see the Ancient One regarding her carefully.

"Is this my astral form?" Rose asked, suddenly understanding why she was having an out of body experience.

"Yes."

"So… Can I go wake up now?"

"In order to wake up, you must simply return to your body."

"Ok… Can I stay like this a little while longer? It's just, I've, like, seen it before but it's kinda cool experiencing it myself." The Ancient One nodded. Rose tried to think of something else to say to the Ancient One while she was here but coming up with nothing. Her mind was too preoccupied with her near death experience.

"Rosalie?" The Ancient One fixed her with an exasperated look before beginning to fade away. "Try not to get shot again." And then she was gone.

The infirmary had cleared out while this conversation took place, leaving just Bucky and Steve with Rose. Steve had pulled up a chair to sit next to his two friends.

"You know, she thought you'd changed your mind about liking her." Steve was saying to Bucky.

"I…" Bucky struggled with how to phrase his response. "I didn't want to get too attached, in case something like this happened." He gestured to her body on the cot. "And then it goes and happens anyway, and I realise I should have tried to be with her while I had a chance."

"She's not dead, Buck." Steve reminded him gently.

"But she might not wake up." He pointed out. Rose wasn't sure if she should be listening in on the conversation, and felt like she was eavesdropping even though she was invisible.

"At least the rest of the mission was a success." Steve commented. _Oh, good_ , Rose thought.

"What was Peggy thinking?!" Bucky exploded suddenly. "Rose isn't field trained! Hell, she's never even been through basic!" _Ok, rude, I can hold my own._

"Peggy didn't order her to go, she asked. And do you really think you could stop Rose from doing anything she wanted to do?" Steve stood and clapped Bucky on the shoulder. "You should get some sleep."

"I will. I just want to stay a little while longer, keep her company." Steve nodded and his response and left. Bucky waited until Steve was out of the room before reaching into his jacket and pulling out Rose's increasingly battered copy on The Hobbit.

"I know this is your favourite, so maybe dream of Middle Earth until you wake up, ok?"

"Oh, Bucky." Rose said out loud, even though he couldn't hear her.

"In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit…" Rose's heart melted as he began reading the book to her unconscious form. Her astral from sank into the vacated chair beside him to listen.

 **Thanks for reading! Please review, follow and fave! Seriously, getting a notification for a review literally makes my day!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Next chapter, enjoy! (Mild spoilers for Agent Carter and Agents of Shield)**

* * *

Two weeks. That's how long Rose was in the infirmary for. She had joined her astral form back with her body after Bucky had left her to sleep. The doctor, as well as her friends, had been pleasantly surprised to find her not only awake but happily chatting away to a nurse early the next morning. Rose hated being stuck in being stuck in the hospital cot - it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world and she constantly had the feeling that she needed to be _doing_ something.

She had a fairly consistent stream of visitors - Peggy, Steve, and Bucky came to see her everyday. Visits from Howard were a little more sporadic, and since she had woken up Colonel Phillips had only been to see her once for a mission debrief. Peggy had made sure that Rose had her notebooks and pens, and Rose filled her time with writing down every detail she could remember of the MCU. Eventually there was a notebook dedicated to each future Avenger, a notebook for Peggy after Steve was gone, even one for Howard. Rose insisted in the one for Howard, that when he would eventually have a family, that he keep Peggy close. _It will be very important that members of your family are close to her_ , she wrote. Rose also wrote to Peggy that when Howard eventually has a child ( _shocking, I know Peggy, but bear with_ ) that she make sure she is present in the young boy's life. The two weeks that Rose was in the infirmary, she wrote constantly when she was alone, dating the notebooks to be opened only on certain dates in the future, and colluding with Howard to store them - especially the ones that weren't to be opened until 2012 - in a safety deposit box.

"I'm assuming I'll know what's in these notebooks one day?" Howard asked.

"One day," Rose responded, sounding a little bit too far away in her mind for Howard's liking.

Every day that she was in the infirmary, without fail, Bucky brought her dinner from the Mess Hall and sat with her for an hour or two every evening. Rose didn't bring up the overheard conversation that he had had with Steve while she was in her astral form. Bucky didn't bring up the New Year's Eve kiss. There was just some unspoken thing and an agreement that whatever had them dancing around each other before was in the past, and they could now move forward. They talked about nothing and everything, often lapsing into silence with Bucky simply keeping her company while Rose wrote in her notebooks.

It was the middle of the day when Rose was finally discharged. She left with a small limp and a stern warning to not do anything that would risk reopening the wound. She knew everyone who was a soldier or agent at headquarters would be taking lunch in the Mess, so she made her way down to Howard's lab. He barely looked up when she entered, frowning at the Hydra weapon on the desk in front of him.

"How's it going?" Rose asked, collapsing onto a chair beside him and gesturing to the gun.

"Frustrating," Howard grumbled. "This is like nothing I've ever seen, I can't quite crack how this is powered."

"That's because it's powered by the Tesseract." Rose stated. Howard gave her a questioning look. "Well, the Tesseract is alien, so you can't exactly liken it to any element on Earth."  
"So it's a new element?" Howard guessed.

"I think so," Rose nodded. "Future generations may be able to figure it out, but you're… limited by the technology of your time." Rose decided to steal lines from the message Howard leaves for Tony in Iron Man 2. "This is starting you down a path that you yourself may not be able to see to the end."

"... This is something you know about, isn't it? From the stories about us in your world?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll keep working on it." Howard went back to his notes.

"Rose!" She looked around as Steve and Bucky entered the lab. "I didn't know they were letting you out today!" Steve grinned at her.

"Well, I'm not punching Hitler any time soon, but," she shrugged, "I've now got a cool scar."

"I'm sure you'll be fighting fit again in no time, Slug" Bucky came up behind her and casually draped an arm around her shoulders. "Can't get rid of our Rose that easily." Steve raised his eyebrows at how openly affectionate Bucky was being, having not seen how much time he had been spending with Rose in the infirmary. He was about to open his mouth to comment on it when the Colonel appeared in the doorway.

"Captain, Sergeant, briefing room, now." He caught Rose's eye as he was about to turn away, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly. "Miss Hammond, good to see you back on your feet." She smiled in return.

Steve's face became serious, the Captain taking over, and he followed Phillips. Bucky squeezed Rose's shoulder briefly before also leaving the room. Rose knew what the gesture meant. In the evenings they had spent together, Rose had finally gotten Bucky to open up a bit about how he really felt about the war and fighting - regardless of the obligation he felt to Steve. He had admitted that while what Rose knew reassured him, he couldn't shake the ominous and foreboding feeling that came before every mission. He had resigned himself to the fighting itself as there was no reasoning with the people they were fighting. Rose was reminded again of Infinity War. It was the same resignation Bucky had when T'Challa presented him with his new arm, and the only thing he could say was _where's the fight?_

Rose hoped that she could save him from that fight at least. Maybe he'd end up in the SSR with Peggy after the war. She hoped he'd find someone like Peggy found Daniel Souza. Rose knew that a part of Peggy would always love Steve, but she had found herself rooting for Peggy and Daniel while watching Agent Carter, and had flipped out fangirl style when they finally got together.

When the train mission to capture Zola came up, Rose would just have to make sure she went with them. She was already tempting fate with every tidbit she told them about their future, the outcome of the mission was not something she was about to leave to chance.

* * *

Rose later found out that the Howling Commandos had been in the briefing room to go over plans for a mission that was going to last _months_. She didn't exactly relish the idea of being left in London, though Peggy assured her that she would be put to use with recon work. Peggy herself had become a competent field agent, and she was more than happy to train Rose to be the same.

"The more women we have in this line of work, the better." She said.

"Be careful what you wish for," Rose muttered under her breath, thinking of Dottie Underwood and the Red Room program.

The Commandos were going to go over to Europe mid April - March was already fast approaching - and provided everything went to plan, they would be back on Allied soil by September. Rose was sure they would have the intel to start planning the train mission when they got back. Given how long they would be away, Rose approached Colonel Phillips to share some information she knew thanks to Agents of Shield.

"If they hear anything about a Hydra General named Reinhardt and they have the opportunity to take him out, then they need to do it." Rose told him.

"How far is he up the chain of command?" Phillips asked.

"Cut off Red Skull's head, Reinhardt is one of the ones that will take its place," she explained, using Hydra's words.

"He does something in the future, doesn't he?" The Colonel deduced.

"Yes," Rose confirmed. "There's another alien object out there - side note, start categorising them, maybe label as, oh I don't know, 0-8-4 has a nice ring to it…" Phillips raised his eyebrows at her. "Anyway, that's beside the point, it's an object called the Obelisk and it's beyond dangerous. If any of your teams do track down Reinhardt and the Obelisk, make sure they _do not touch it_." Colonel Phillips studied her for a moment.

"Noted."

The month and a bit before they were due to move out passed far too quickly for Rose. She barely spent any time with Steve and Bucky as they were constantly busy preparing for the mission. She ended up being a helping hand in Howard's lab most of the time, but she was disappointed to find out that in the Commandos' absence, he was leaving for New York, planning to return when they did. The only thing she could liken the mood at Headquarters to was when her University friends were gearing up for exams, at the same time as preparing to leave for the summer. The Commandos would be gone over the English and European summer - it wasn't by any means a summer vacation though.

"I'm calling it Steve and Bucky's Summer Road Trip!" Rose announced at dinner the night before they were due to leave. "Featuring Nazis." Most of the Commandos looked at her bemused, used to her unorthodox banter by this point. Steve let out an exasperated sigh while Bucky laughed lightly.

"Don't you mean 'fighting Nazis'?" Gabe asked.

"Either way sounds quite fun, actually." Monty grinned.

"Hey, why do those two Bozos get to be in the title and not the rest of us?" Dugan complained.

"Because they're your commanding officers?" Rose said her reply as a question, assuming it had been obvious.

"I suppose we do what they say," Monty clapped Dugan on the shoulder as he huffed.

"You bet your ass you do," Bucky chimed in.

"Language," Steve scolded.

"Fuck off, Captain America," Rose teased playfully, earning a bashful smile for Steve.

The group bantered for a while longer, every now and then Rose would meet Bucky's eyes and his signature smirk would melt into this secret smile that he seemed to reserve only for her. It gave her butterflies like she hadn't felt since New Year's. When she stood up, announcing that she was going to bed and promising that she'd come to see them off in the morning, Bucky stood with her.

"You're still supposed to have an escort, I'll walk you up." He explained at her questioning gaze. "I was going to turn in anyway."

Rose struggled for words to fill the silence as they walked to the elevator and went up to her room. _What were you meant to say to someone who was about to be on the front lines for nearly five months?_ Luckily, Bucky saved her from trying to start a conversation.

"So, I guess after tomorrow morning we won't be seeing each other for a while." He rubbed the back of his neck as they entered the elevator. Rose had gotten to know Bucky well enough to know that he did this when he was feeling a little awkward. _Same, buddy_.

"I guess so," Rose replied.

"We still never had that dance," he pointed out.

"Next time," she reassured him as the elevator stopped on her floor.

"Maybe…" Rose looked at him confused as his tone changed. He exited the elevator, but instead of walking to her room, he grabbed her hand and led her to the stairwell that would take them to the roof.

"Bucky! Where are you taking me?"

"Come on!" he laughed, tugging on her hand and leading her up the stairs. He opened the door at the top and pulled her out onto the roof with him. "Have you ever been up here at night?" He asked .

"No…" Rose trailed off, looking up. The night sky took her breath away. During the war, London did what was called a 'blackout' to minimize light pollution during the blitz so the enemy wouldn't know where they were bombing. This meant that during a clear night, like tonight, the stars were clearly visible from the roof. It was not a sight one would see easily in modern day London and that fact alone made Rose appreciate it all the more. "It's beautiful, Bucky," Rose whispered, lost in the moment.

"Yes, it is," Rose glanced at him, looking down and blushing lightly when she saw that, instead of looking at the stars, he was looking at her.

"Oh, man, that's almost too cliché." She wrinkled her nose at him. Bucky chuckled, tugging on her hand the way he had those few months ago before he had kissed her. This time, however, he kept hold of one hand, using the other to guide her spare hand to his shoulder and then placing his on her waist. He started swaying, spinning them around lightly and humming a tune.

"Is this your idea of taking me dancing?" Rose laughed. Bucky huffed out a laugh.

"It's the best I could do for now, sorry Slug." He went back to humming.

"Well I don't know where this is coming from," Rose continued. "Since New Year's Eve, you've barely given me any reason to think you like me as any more than a friend." Bucky hesitated briefly at her words before he spun her around, her breath catching as he dipped her.

"My mistake."

He pulled her back up and continued humming the tune. Rose was sure she had heard it on the little radio Howard sometimes had on while he worked. Her suspicions were confirmed when Bucky sang the last few lyrics of the famous song.

"... Lovely, never ever change, keep that breathless charm…" He hummed a bit more before finishing the song. "... Just the way you look tonight." They stopped swaying, staring at each other. Bucky looked like he was about to kiss her like on New Year's when Rose broke the moment.

"I know you'll be alright, but I need you to promise me something, ok?" Bucky looked mildly disappointed, but nodded.

"Sure."

"Come back." Rose's eyes were wide as she all but pleaded him.

"Are you going to be waiting for me when I do?" he asked with the same wide eyes. Rose was aware that they were still holding their arms around each other like when they had been dancing.

"I'll always be waiting. And if things go south, I will find you." Rose chuckled lightly. "But we both know that I'm not a soldier, so just come back, ok?" Bucky placed a hand on her cheek.

"I will always come back to you," he promised, leaning in closer to her. Rose could tell he was definitely going to kiss her this time. He leaned in so slowly that Rose got impatient, rolling her eyes and moving her hand from his shoulder to the back on his neck. She pulled him down gently and she rose up on her tiptoes, closing the distance between them. Bucky was surprised for a moment, before wrapping both arms around her and melting into the kiss. Regardless of the fact that they were about to spend months apart, the unspoken thing between Rose and Bucky had become more than spoken; it had become a promise.

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 **Thanks for reading friends! Shout out to guest reviewer SunnySides, who I think left the longest review I've had?! THANK YOU SO MUCH, y'all seriously have no idea what the encouragement means to me. So please review, fave, and follow!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Well hello friends, it's been a while! Apologies for the lengthy delay, life kinda got in the way. A LOT has happened over the last 18 month, but I'm back and I intend of finishing this. Now where were we...**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my character, Rose.**

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The months that followed the Howling Commandos departure were mundane. Rose was thankful that at least it was summer. The hotter months of the year always seemed to pass quicker to her than the winter months. With the team and Howard being gone, and nothing else to do, Rose threw herself into training. She was by no means weak before she had been brought into the MCU, she was quite the gym bunny at home. With the physical enhancement that the Ancient One had given her, after a couple of months she was lifting over 200 pounds. Peggy was also teaching her what Rose had dubbed 'How to be a Spy 101'. She was quite proud of her progress on the shooting range - they weren't headshots, but they would sure slow down whoever her target was.

They regularly received news on the Commandos progress, along with various letters that the team members had sent to be passed on to their families. Rose was surprised when she began to receive letters from Bucky, even though he had told her he would write the morning that they left. He then kissed her full on the lips right there in front of everyone before leaving with a smug grin on his face as she gaped after him.

"I knew it!" Peggy exclaimed after they had left.

However, Peggy's relentless teasing did cease when they were at the cinema watching a short film about the war effort. Rose hoped it was still there, as per the original film, and she was so busy looking at Bucky every time he was on screen that she almost missed it. The Commandos were in the back of a pickup with a map spread between them, Steve was pointing to various locations when the camera focused in on his compass. It held a small picture of Peggy. Rose's head whipped around to look at her. She was frozen in her seat, glancing sideways at Colonel Phillips who was giving her _such_ a look. Rose had to wonder how he had gotten the picture, seeing as Peggy obviously didn't know it was there. _Maybe Bucky is more resourceful than a lot of people give him credit for_ , she thought, smirking.

Peggy and Rose become extremely close over the summer. It began one late night when Peggy knocked on Rose's door to offer a sneaky nightcap after a particularly hard day training. Rose opened the door slowly, trying to hide her face. Peggy tilted her chin up with her hand and immediately pulled Rose into a tight hug when she saw her red eyes and face wet with tears. Peggy lead her over to the small sofa in her room and asked her what was wrong when she had calmed down enough to finally speak.

"I, uh," she cleared her throat, "I guess I just miss my family. My friends." Peggy nodded in sympathy. "I've been here eight months, I never thought, never considered-" she let out a shuddering breath. "I don't know how long I'll be here, or even if I get to go home once it's over."

"It's never easy, being away from home," Peggy consoled, "nor is it easy to accept that you may not see a loved one again. Do you know I lost my brother?" Rose nodded, that she did know. It had been the loss of Michael Carter that had spurred Peggy to leave her job as a codebreaker and pursue a career with the SSR. Hell, she had even ended her engagement over it. "He wanted me to be more, he knew I could be more. Everything I do, everyday, is to make him proud. Think of the people you have left behind. Do you want to make them proud?"

"Yeah," Rose sniffed. "My brother and a couple of my friends would probably flip their shit if they knew where I was right now."

"Whatever you do here, Rose, do it for them."

Rose smiled wryly. "I hope the Commandos aren't away for too much longer. Movie montages are a lot more tedious in real life."

"I…don't know what that means." Peggy picked up the bottle liquor and two glasses she had set on the floor when they sat on the sofa. "Here, this might help." She said opening the bottle and pouring two glasses.

"Thanks, Peggy."

* * *

"Rose, we have a mission."

It was little over a week before the Commandos were due back when Peggy approached Rose with a file.

"Oh, fuck, no," Rose shook her head. "Last mission you took me on, I got shot, remember?"

"Your skills have vastly improved since then." Peggy pointed out.

"Gee, thanks."

"You're coming. Read the file, grab what you need. Be ready in an hour." With that, Peggy strode away.

Rose knew it was pointless to argue any further. Peggy was ridiculously stubborn once she had made her mind up about something - it was something Rose had admired about her long before meeting her. Sharon Carter's words at Peggy's funeral were spot on; she compromised where she could, and where she couldn't, she didn't.

A little while later, Rose met Peggy in the foyer of Headquarters, equipped for a mission. The mission itself made Rose's heart sink when she thought about it. A Hydra operative was in London on private business. Normally, an operative this low on Hydra's pay grade would fly under the SSR's radar, but there was something special about this particular gentleman. Werner Fischer worked in Hydra's transportation department. More accurately, he organised the trains. Now the intel that the Howling Commandos has fed back to the SSR so far had indicated that Dr Arnim Zola regularly came and went from a factory that the Commandos had only just located and were planning to take out before heading back to London. The problem was that no one knew anything about where Zola went apart from the fact that a train was involved. Rose and Peggy's mission was to bring Fischer in and find out as much about Hydra's apparent secret railway that they could. Rose had never known how they knew about the train in the movie, but even more, Rose was now a part of the mission. The mission that would lead to Bucky eventually falling from the train. _Unless I stop it_.

In the months that Bucky and Steve had been away, Rose had gone over scenario after scenario in her head. The best plan she could come up with involved her somehow getting onto the train with them. She was pretty damn sure that she wouldn't be able to convince Bucky to not go on the mission when it came up. He was too set on watching out for Steve. That, and Rose had read enough fanfictions in her time to deduce that no matter what she said, Bucky would get on that train. So she would just have to go with them.

Rose shook her head, brushing those thoughts aside. Before she could figure out how to get in on that mission she had to first make sure it would happen. The plan to get Fischer was to sneak into a Gentleman's club that Fischer supposedly frequented and pose as waitresses. They would then lure him away from the main room and subdue him for transport back to headquarters.

"How are we going to subdue him?" Rose asked, playfully taking a fighting stance and raising her fists.

"We," Peggy side-eyed her and placed her hands on top of Rose's, lowering them, "aren't. You are." She reached into her pocket and produced her _Sweet Dreams_ lipstick. Rose's eyes went wide.

"Oh _hell_ no! I'm not _seducing_ him! Why can't you do it?" Rose complained. Peggy pushed the lipstick into Rose's hand and began walking their car.

"You'll be fine." Peggy assured her. "Besides," she fixed Rose with a knowing look, "gentlemen prefer blondes."

"If you're saying that it has to be me because I'm the picture of Aryan perfection, Carter, I fucking swear…" Rose muttered, following after Peggy, who chose to ignore her.

They parked in an alleyway behind the club and Peggy handed Rose an apron that would identify her as staff, putting one on herself.

"Ugh, I had hoped I had left the customer service industry behind." Rose grumbled as she tied the apron on.

"If you've done this before, you should be a natural and blend in here then." Peggy commented.

"I worked in a bookstore, it wasn't exactly serving cocktails to rich people."

There was no arguing with Peggy and she exited the vehicle and picked the lock of the back entrance of the club. It clicked open and she held the door open for Rose.

"After you."

Rose pulled a face at her and stomped into the building.

Inside Rose found it surprisingly easy to blend in with the other waitresses, who paid her no mind. _Probably don't want to get in trouble in this stupid misogynistic establishment_. Rose followed them down a hallway, picked up a tray when she spotted one, and went through the beaded curtain that led to the main lounge area. She spotted Fischer quickly with the grainy photograph they had managed to obtain of him. Inwardly cringing when she noticed that she had already caught Fischer's eye, Rose flitted across the floor towards him, trying desperately to imitate the air of allure and demure that the rest of the waitresses seemed to have.

"Good evening," he drawled in a barely concealed German accent. Rose painted her best sickly sweet smile across her face.

"Good evening, sir, how may I help you?" At this, Rose received some side-eyed glances from the other girls in the room. _Well I clearly haven't followed whatever customer service script they follow_.

"Can you be discreet, my dear? I have something in my case upstairs that requires a more… delicate touch than my own hands"

 _Fucking. Gross_. Rose knew he was probably referring to the more detailed map of Hydra's bases he was rumored to have with him, but that didn't stop the request from sounding any less creepy. Luckily, years of practice kept Rose's fake smile in place.

"Certainly." She replied.

Fischer stood, gesturing for her to follow him. He led her down the hallway which she had entered previously, the doorway through which she had entered the building at the end. Disgust at the thought of using Peggy's knockout lipstick on the Hydra agent built, and realising the hallway was empty except for the two of them, Rose thought fast. She looked from the metal tray in her hand to the back of Fischer's head, to the doorway that held Peggy and her escape. Before she could weigh the pro's and con's of the situation and lose her nerve, Rose lifted the tray and smacked it against the back of Fischer's head as hard as she could. There was a resounding _clang_ as metal met bone. Rose froze, as Fischer crumpled to the ground, relieved that her enhanced strength hadn't failed her and praying that the noise didn't draw too much attention. She jumped as the door at the end of the hall swung open to reveal a wide-eyed Peggy.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Peggy whisper-shouted at her.

Rose shrugged as if to say 'oops?'. Peggy shook her head and strode down the hall and tried to begin dragging Fischer out of the building.

"Are you going to help or not?" She snapped at Rose.

"Oh, sorry," Rose mumbled, helping Peggy drag him out, still amazed that hitting him on the head had even worked.

* * *

"I had to go back, sweet talk my way into Fischer's room to get that map. You nearly cost us the mission!" Peggy was berating Rose back at headquarters.

"Well it sort of worked, didn't it?" Rose responded defensively.

"I gotta admit, even I'm a little impressed." Howard piped up from his desk.  
"Zip it." Peggy held a finger up to shush him. "Lucky for you, we still got the intel we needed. We know when and where to find Zola. The Commandos can even carry out the mission before returning to headquarters." Rose's blood ran cold.

"Before?"

"Yes, the train will be running through the Alps not too far from their current position in three day."

Three days. _Three fucking days_. Rose didn't know how she was going to convince Peggy or the Colonel, but she needed to be there. Rose looked at Peggy with eyes she hadn't seen since Steve had all but begged to cross enemy lines to rescue the 107th, the very mission that had brought Rose to them.

"I have to be there."

Peggy didn't respond immediately, thinking it through. Rose supposedly knew what the future held for all of them, therefore wouldn't say such a thing without knowing the danger it would put her in. Considering this, Peggy responded with four simple words;

"What do you need?"

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 **Thanks to everyone who has reviewed even while I've been away, it's seriously the only that motivated me to keep going. Oh btw, the next chapter is gonna be fun :)**


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